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Football: Poland set to enter Euro 2024 fray

14.06.2024 23:45
Poland's national football team is set to take on the Netherlands in its first game at the Euro 2024 tournament on Sunday .
Poland boss Michał Probierz.
Poland boss Michał Probierz.Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

The match in Hamburg kicks off at 3 p.m. (CEST), with Poland looking to make their mark at the European championships after a disappointing Euro 2020 campaign.

The championships, held by the European football governing body UEFA, opened on Friday, igniting football fever across the continent.

As Poland enter the fray, officials have said the team’s opening fixture against the Netherlands could prove to be crucial to the Poles’ success in the tournament.

The Polish side goes into the match missing several key players, including captain Robert Lewandowski, who is nursing a muscle injury, and striker Arkadiusz Milik, who has been ruled out of Euro 2024 by a knee injury.

Poland are ranked 28th worldwide by football's governing body FIFA, while the Netherlands are No. 7 in the FIFA table.

Last Friday, the Poles defeated Ukraine 3-1 in a pre-Euro 2024 friendly in Warsaw. On Monday, June 10, the Polish team picked up a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Turkey in their last warm-up friendly at home before the continental championships.

The Polish team on Monday completed a nine-day training camp in Warsaw and then moved to Hanover in northern Germany, its official training base for the Euro 2024 tournament.

Poland captain Robert Lewandowski. Poland captain Robert Lewandowski. Photo: PAP/Marcin Gadomski

After facing off against the Netherlands on Sunday, the Poles will take on Austria in their next Euro 2024 group-stage fixture on June 21, and then play France four days later.

Poland boss Michał Probierz told a news conference in early June that his team is aiming to advance to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 and "will do everything to make that happen."

The 24-team Euro 2024 tournament runs from June 14 to July 14 in 10 cities in Germany, with the final played at Berlin's Olympiastadion.

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 Sport, IAR, PAP