UEFA Euro 2024 Key Highlights: A tale of two penalties; ‘Disappointed’ France finish 2nd in Group D

The match concluded dramatically as Poland were awarded a penalty following a VAR review when Upamecano tripped Swiderski. Lewandowski’s initial penalty was saved by Maignan, but the goalkeeper was deemed to have moved off his line prematurely, which necessitated a retake of the penatly

The Barcelona forward made no mistake with his second attempt, sending the ball into the bottom-left corner off the post. Despite France generating an xG (expected goals) of 2.35 compared to Poland’s 1.14, the draw meant they finished behind Austria, who defeated the Netherlands. France will next face the runners-up from Group E, while Poland exits Euro 2024 with just one point.

• Mbappe created a lot of problems for Poland’s defence with his dribbling and passing. The world-class forward scored his first goal at the Euros, his 23rd shot of the tournament. A significant moment for Mbappe, the penalty gave France something to defend for. Shortly after, Mbappe took a measured approach to the penalty spot before curling his right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner, with Skorupski diving to save the effort.

• Even though France already qualified through the group, they were pushing hard for a second goal, with Poland struggling to advance beyond their half. A win over Poland would have meant France finishing on top of Group D, with Austria or Netherlands finishing in second place.

• In the last eight major tournaments (World Cup or Euros), France have failed to win their final group stage match since their 2-0 victory over Togo at the 2006 World Cup. They have drawn four and lost four. Furthermore, they have not won any of their last four Euros matches when the scores were level at half-time.

• France were yet to score from any of their 37 attempts so far at Euro 2024 until Kylian Mbappe’s penalty goal in the 56th minute. Only Ukraine in 2016 recorded more shots without scoring in a single edition of the tournament.

• In the 76th minute, Lewandowski controlled the ball outside the box and chipped a clever pass to Swiderski, who kept it well before going down under a challenge from Upamecano. VAR was consulted for a potential penalty shortly after the challenge and after a thorough check from the referee, Poland were awarded a penalty.

• Robert Lewandowski missed the penalty but immediately protested for a retake as the Polish goalkeeper had come off his line. In his second attempt, Lewandowski chose to shoot in the same direction as before, striking the left post of the goal and crossing the line past Maignan, who had no chance of saving the penalty this time.

• Drama unfolded in Group D’s final day as Austria cameback against Netherlands, winning 3-2 and topping Group D with 6 points. Every goal scored in both matches altered the group standing. Netherlands were leading the group at one point before Marcel Sabitzer scored the group-winning winner for Austria in the 80th minute.