Kylian Mbappe scored on his return as France finished second in their Euro 2024 Group D following their 1-1 draw against Poland at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.
Mbappe’s penalty kick 11 minutes into the second half was nullified by Robert Lewandowski’s penalty kick in the 79th minute, but France still needed all three points to secure the top spot.
Austria, captained by Ralf Rangnick, put on an incredible show to defeat the Netherlands 3-2 and win the group; the Dutch finished third.
Didier Deschamps’ team, who are currently in the same half of the draw as Portugal, Spain, and Germany, will face the winner of Group E.
After a nose break, Mbappe made a comeback to the starting lineup and scored the first goal of the European Championships, ending his goal drought.
After Poland’s Jakub Kiwior, an Arsenal defender, knocked down Ousmane Dembele in the area, Mbappe scored flawlessly from the penalty spot.
However, France let up, and Dayot Upamecano’s awkward challenge gave Lewandowski a great chance to answer with a spot-kick of his own.
After stopping Lewandowski’s shot, Mike Maignan believed he had saved the French hero, but the goalie had strayed off his line, forcing a retake of the penalty.
The captain of Poland scored his fourth goal at the European Championship, matching the feats of Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo. He did it by slotting into the corner.
Mbappe’s goal in the 56th minute gave the thousands of blue shirts inside a sweltering Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund their first taste of a Frenchman scoring for their team.
In celebration of his 48th goal for his nation, the French captain took off his mask, and it appeared as though Deschamps’ team would easily win Group D.
But Poland, who will depart for home tomorrow after losing their group, had other ideas and shocked the 2022 World Cup winners.
With a sloppy tackle that caught Karol Swiderski, Upamecano—who has spent a large portion of Bayern Munich’s season on the bench—made the defensive error that resulted in the equaliser penalty.
Lewandowski scuffed his initial attempt after a slow run-up, and Maignan made a good save, but he had come off his line too early and was unable to stop the second finish into the same corner.
Despite controlling the game with 58% of the possession and 19 shots on goal, France was unable to generate any clear opportunities to win.
Although Lukasz Skorupski performed admirably in the Polish goal, Deschamps’ team only managed two goals in their three group games, one of which was an own goal. Nevertheless, they will advance to the next round.
They rely on Mbappe, who is currently only one goal short of Michel Platini’s French record of 14 goals in big tournaments, but he will want additional offensive support if his team is to advance.
Though he has yet to score for his country in a big event, the gifted Dembele has occasionally threatened on the right of the front three.
If Deschamps’ team wants to win in Germany, they will need to rapidly find their form.
Photo by EPA/FRIEDEMANN VOGEL
