Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski Shine in Euro 2024 Draw Between France and Poland Triumph

Following his nose break, Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty, but Robert Lewandowski’s response saw France and Poland draw 1-1 in their last Euro 2024 group match on Tuesday. In light of the outcome and Austria’s concurrent 3-2 victory over the Netherlands, France ends up in second place in Group D with one win and two draws.

Ousmane Dembele was hauled down in the Poland area, and Mbappe, sporting a helmet to protect his damaged nose, fired in a spot-kick to put France ahead early in the second half in Dortmund. This year’s tournament saw Mbappe score his first goal in a European Championship and the first goal by a French player overall; Austria’s Maximilian Woeber’s own goal was the only goal France had previously scored.

However, 11 minutes remaining in regulation time, Lewandowski—the all-time leading scorer for Poland—who was starting for the first time at Euro 2024 due to a thigh injury, equalized from a penalty at the other end. Mike Maignan stopped his initial kick, but Lewandowski was given a second opportunity because the France goalie moved off his line before the ball was really struck.

Next Monday, France will travel to Duesseldorf to play the runners-up in Group E, either Belgium, Romania, Slovakia, or Ukraine, in a last-16 match. Of greater significance, by winning the group, they avoided drawing with Portugal, Spain, and Germany, and instead find themselves on the same side of the draw.

If the 2022 World Cup runners-up are to win the championship, they will undoubtedly need to improve on this performance as well as their prior group matches. They have a tendency to be inaccurate and lack energy in this area. Prior to this game, Poland had already been eliminated, becoming the first team to lose their first two games.

At least Michal Probierz’s team was able to salvage some honor from this outcome, and their sizable following was cheered. Not only did the masked Mbappe make his comeback after missing France’s 0-0 draw with the Netherlands, but Antoine Griezmann was notably absent from the starting lineup when the lineups were revealed.

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Rather, coach Didier Deschamps started with the front three who had been together for Paris Saint-Germain the previous season, giving Bradley Barcola his first start for his nation. On his return to the arena where he originally gained notoriety with Borussia Dortmund ten years prior, Lewandowski missed a good opportunity in the first half when he attempted to head wide from Piotr Zielinski’s cross while he was unmarked.

Mbappe struggled to get into the game for the whole of the first half, pausing occasionally to fix his mask and taking off the entire thing during a heated drink break. Theo Hernandez, who started in goal in place of Wojciech Szczesny, who is expected to retire from the Poland team shortly after the Euros, was the first player from France to put Lukasz Skorupski to the test.

Mbappe, meanwhile, began to shine at the conclusion of the first half. He exchanged quick passes with Barcola on the left side of the box on two different occasions, but Skorupski saved his attempt.