France face tough road to final in a forced draw with Poland

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.