Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski Shine in Euro 2024 Draw Between France and Poland Triumph
France and Poland drew 1-1 thanks to penalties taken by Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappe in the last group game of Euro 2024.
It was an exciting contest. The tournament standings were significantly affected by this thrilling Tuesday matchup.
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.
Just after the restart, the Bologna goalkeeper dove to his left to block a signature Mbappe curler, but the penalty that ended the tie on minute 56 was beyond his control.
Before he produced a burst of pace on the right as he broke into the box, Dembele’s final product had been practically nonexistent; all Jakub Kiwior could do was chop him down.
Referee Marco Guida of Italy signaled the spot right away, and Mbappe rushed off to celebrate, rolling in his kick and taking off his mask. However, Poland didn’t back down and scored a penalty of their own after Dayot Upamecano tripped replacement Karol Swiderski.
After being persuaded to move over to the VAR monitor, the referee changed his mind and pointed to the location instead of waving play on.
Lewandowski’s initial effort was saved by Maignan due to a clumsy run-up, but the Barcelona striker scored on his second attempt.
Manager of France, Didier Deschamps:
It’s not annoying. It was obvious that we wanted to be in first place, but we had to win. When something doesn’t go your way, you have to own it. “We won the game by doing the right things. We have qualified, therefore you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished. We may not have the desired position, but the primary goal has been achieved.
“The goalkeeper made several excellent saves, but we could have been more efficient overall. “Having a two-goal advantage would have improved the situation for us. However, we were unable to succeed.”
