Action in Euro 2024 Group D has been concluded with France and Austria qualifying for the next round of the competition while the Netherlands’ knockout hopes hang in the balance.
Meanwhile, Poland are out of the competition despite a strong showing against France in their final group match.
Euro 2024 Group D final match: France 1-0 Poland
France have lost out of Euro 2024 Group D Top spot after draw with Poland. Les Bleus went into the game with their talismanic forward Kylian Mbappe, who picked up a gruesome nose injury in their opening match
The Didier Deschamps-led side opened their Euro campaign with a win over Austria before drawing the Netherlands in the second match. They needed a win against Poland to weather the challenge from the Netherlands to top the group.
After a barren first-half draw, Mbappe broke the goal deadlock, scoring via the spot to give the team the lead. Still on top of the game after the lead, the European giants looked set to cruise to victory but could not race to the finish line. Barcelona forward, Robert Lewandowski, scored from the spot to peg back the tournament favourites to a 1-1 draw.
With just 10 minutes on the clock left, the game was set to end in a tie. Meanwhile, Austria were leading the Netherlands in the other group game. The lead by the Ralf Rangnick-led side saw the team overtake France to grab the first spot in the group as the scoreline between the 2022 World Cup finalists and Poland stood at 1-1.
It was a marathon of pressure by the French side in the final minutes but Poland, who had lost their last two games in the group, were ready for a strong finish.
They soaked up the late pressure by the star-studded French side to run out with a draw after the final whistle. The draw saw the team lose the top spot to Austria.
Euro 2024 Group D Final Match: Netherlands 2-3 Austria
While the France Vs Poland match ended in a draw, Austria humbled the Netherlands with a magical performance in the other group match.
Against expectations, Austria took the game to the Dutch with full force. They dominated proceedings from the start and drew the first blood just 6 minutes into the game. Dutch player Malen mistakenly poke the ball into his net to give Austria the lead.
In a shocking performance, Austria continued dominating the game despite taking the lead. The Netherlands had 0 shots on target throughout the first half and lost the first half by a lone goal.
In the second half, Gakpo drew the game level just two minutes after the restart. 12 minutes after Gakpo’s equaliser, Schmid got Austria back into the lead.
The drama of goals and counter-goals continued in the 75th minute when Memphis Depay drew the game level again for the Dutch side. However, a spirited Austrian side were ready to grab the unlikely big victory. Marcel Sabitzer scored 10 minutes before regulation time to separate the tie again and the goal was enough to hand the Ralf Rangnick-led side a shock victory against their opponents
Final Group D standings
The result of the two games has seen Austria go top of the group with 6 points while France drop to second place with 5 points. The Netherlands are third with 4 points and still stand a chance of qualifying for the round of 16 among the best third-placed teams. Poland have crashed out of the competition with just a point from their three matches.
