despite a goal from Kylian Mbappé, the Blues finished in second place in group D

FOOTBALL – Qualified, but not reassured. Undecided for a long time, the meeting between France and Poland ended with a new draw for the Blues, lacking offensive success since the start of Euro 2024 in Germany.

This Tuesday, June 25, the last group match of the French team was crucial for the rest of the French journey. Qualified for the round of 16, Didier Deschamps’ team still had to improve its performance to secure first place in the group, depending on the result of Netherlands-Austria, another match in Group D.

Finally, Kylian Mbappé and his teammates reassured their supporters and their coach by (finally) scoring a goal. However, a penalty awarded to the Poles came back to change the cards of the meeting, which ended in a sad draw (1-1).

With this result, France validates second place in Group D due to the victory of the Austrians over the Netherlands (2-3). With this victory, Austria finished at the top of the group, to everyone’s surprise. For the Blues, the future is getting somewhat darker. By finishing second, they move into a tough part of the table, with Spain, Portugal or Germany.

45 minutes like the Blues

It all started on a similar basis to the French team’s two previous matches. United in defense, it was against the goal that the French again lacked success.

Mbappé, Dembélé, Barcola… The French attackers often struck, but very often came up against one of the men of the match, Lukasz Skorupski. The Polish goalkeeper was very prominent during the first 45 minutes of the match, repelling the French waves one after the other.

On the Blues side, the first half especially allowed Kylian Mbappé to get into shape after his notable absence against the Netherlands. With his mask on his face, the star striker of the France team never seemed bothered by this circumstantial protection, after his violent impact on the shoulder of an Austrian during the Blues’ first match.

Mbappé scorer, but…

Returning from the locker room, France returns much better. And only 10 minutes after the resumption of play, a good outburst from Ousmane Dembélé allows us to obtain a penalty quite rightly whistled by the referee Marco Guida.

Unsurprisingly, it was captain Kylian Mbappé who was responsible for transforming it, after several missed duels against the Polish goalkeeper. Nothing to scare Kylian Mbappé, who took the opportunity to score his 48th goal with the France team and the first of his career in a Euro.

In addition to reassuring the French striker after his injury, this goal also puts an end to a sad statistic. Apart from the own goal in favor of the Blues against Austria at the opening of the Euro, France had not scored a single goal for 333 minutes.

Reassured, the Blues are however unable to make the break. And on a foul by Upamecano, the referee awards a new penalty, this time for the Poles. If Mike Maignan manages to stop it, the referee asks to withdraw it due to a foot fault from the French goalkeeper, a little too far forward on his line.

On his second attempt, Robert Lewandowski did not tremble and offered his team the equalizer.

Despite some scares at the end of the match, France missed its chance to finish first in its group. And to reassure yourself before entering the final stages of the European Football Cup. In the round of 16, France will face the second in Group E, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia or Ukraine, who all have three points before their last match.

The Blues’ next meeting with their supporters will therefore take place next Monday, at 6 p.m. But in the event of victory, a possible shock against Portugal is already looming…

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