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Football: Poland draw 1-1 with France in Euro 2024 farewell

25.06.2024 21:30
Poland's national football team on Tuesday drew 1-1 with France in its final game at the Euro 2024 tournament, having already crashed out of the European championships.
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Captain Kylian Mbappe (right) put France 1-0 up from a penalty in the 56th minute, but Robert Lewandowski (left) equalized by converting a penalty in the 79th.
Captain Kylian Mbappe (right) put France 1-0 up from a penalty in the 56th minute, but Robert Lewandowski (left) equalized by converting a penalty in the 79th.Photo: EPA/CHRISTOPHER NEUNDORF

Captain Kylian Mbappe put France 1-0 up from a penalty in the 56th minute of the game, but Robert Lewandowski equalized by converting a penalty in the 79th.

Poland goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski, who denied the French side on multiple occasions, was named man of the match.

The draw with the world runners-up in Dortmund, western Germany, allowed Poland to save face after the national squad's early exit from the tournament left many fans heartbroken.

Poland are ranked 26th worldwide by football's governing body FIFA, while France are No. 2 in the FIFA table.

The Polish team, captained by Lewandowski, FIFA's world player of the year for 2020, crashed out of Euro 2024 after losing its first two group-stage matches against the Netherlands and Austria.

The Poles, under homegrown manager Michał Probierz, were beaten 1-2 by the Dutch in their opening Euro 2024 fixture on June 16 and lost 1-3 to Austria in their second Group D game last Friday.

On Friday night, France and the Netherlands played to a goalless draw, extinguishing Poland's last hope of achieving Euro 2024 glory. The Poles had needed a win by the Dutch over France to prolong its chances of staying in the tournament.

Poland finished last in their Group D and failed to advance to the knockout stage of the Euro 2024 tournament, with just one point from three group-stage games.

Austria finished at the top of the group, with six points, ahead of France with five points and the Netherlands in third place with four.

The championships, held by the European football governing body UEFA, opened on June 14 and run until July 14 in 10 cities in Germany.

Poland boss Michał Probierz said ahead of the tournament that his team was aiming to advance to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 and would "do everything to make that happen."

Poland failed to get past the group stage at the postponed Euro 2020 tournament, where they suffered a defeat to Slovakia before drawing with Spain and losing the decisive game against Sweden.

The Polish team made it through to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2016 championships in France, losing to Portugal on penalties.

Poland reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar before being eliminated by eventual runners-up France.

(gs)

Source: TVP, IAR, PAP

Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Marcin Matuszewski.