DORTMUND, Germany
Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty on his return after breaking his nose but Robert Lewandowski's reply meant France and Poland drew 1-1 in their final group game at Euro 2024 on Tuesday.
The result, combined with
Austria's 3-2 victory over the Netherlands at the same time, means France
finish second in Group D with one win and two draws.
France will now head to
Duesseldorf for a last-16 tie next Monday against the runners-up in Group E,
which will be Belgium, Romania, Slovakia or Ukraine.
"We have to appreciate
what we did. We're qualified. We know when we're playing next (1 July), even if
we don't know against who exactly," said France coach Didier Deschamps.
"We've achieved our first
objective," said Deschamps. "Even if we don't have the spot we were
aiming for because we are second. A new competition is about to start."
Wearing a mask to protect his
injured nose, Mbappe rolled in a spot-kick to put France ahead early in the
second half in Dortmund after Ousmane Dembele was brought down in the Poland
area.
It was Mbappe's first ever
goal at a European Championship, and the first scored by a France player at
this year's tournament – their only prior counter was an own goal by Austria's
Maximilian Woeber.
Yet Lewandowski, Poland's
all-time top scorer who was himself starting for the first time at Euro 2024
after a thigh injury, equalised from a penalty at the other end 11 minutes from
time.
His first kick was saved by
Mike Maignan, but Lewandowski was allowed a retake as the France goalkeeper
came off his line before the ball had been struck.
France's result is all the
more significant as they are now on the same side of the draw as Portugal,
Spain and Germany, which they would have avoided by topping the group.
Often imprecise and lacking in
intensity here, the 2022 World Cup runners-up will certainly need to improve on
this performance, and their previous group outings, if they are to win the
competition.
Poland had already been
eliminated before this game, becoming the first team to go out after losing
their opening two matches.
This result at least allowed
Michal Probierz's side to rescue some pride and gave some cheer to their large
support.
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