A Kylian Mbappe penalty was cancelled out by Robert Lewandowski's spot kick as already-eliminated Poland held France to a 1-1 draw in Dortmund on Tuesday (Jun 25), meaning the French finish second in Group D. France finish with five points, one less than an Austrian side it defeated earlier in group play. The Netherlands finish with four points while Poland end with one.
Mbappe broke the deadlock in the 56th minute with his first European Championship goal – and the first scored by a French player at Euro 2024 – when he calmly slotted home a penalty given for Jakub Kiwior's clumsy challenge on Ousmane Dembele.
The lead would have meant France topped the group regardless of the result of a see-saw game between Netherlands and Austria.
However, Dayot Upamecano brought down Polish substitute Karol Swiderksi, which allowed Lewandowski to level from the spot in the 79th minute – after his first effort was saved by Mike Maignan, who was adjudged to have advanced off his line too early.
With Austria then grabbing a later winner against the Dutch, the draw means France finish second in Group D behind Austria and will face whoever comes second in Group E, where Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine are all on three points.
It is the first time France have failed to finish top of their group at a major tournament in 12 years under manager Didier Deschamps.
It was another uninspired performance by France, who lacked imagination from top to bottom. They dominated possession but were denied by Poland's excellent goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski who made a string of decent saves to deny Mbappé, Theo Hernandez, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola´s close-range efforts.
But after Poland found the equaliser, France had to endure a late flurry by a Poland team who were roared on by their fans who woke up after Lewandowski's goal to create a raucous atmosphere in Dortmund.
