Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski both converted from the spot as France and Poland played put a 1-1 draw in their Euro 2024 Group D match at the BVB Stadion Dortmund on Tuesday.
FOLLOW THE MATCH LIVE | FRANCE VS POLAND HIGHLIGHTS, EURO 2024
Take a look at the major talking points from the match:
LEWANDOWSKI SCORES FROM RETAKEN PENALTYPoland’s Robert Lewandowski scored from the penalty spot after having his first attempt saved by Mike Maignan in the Euro 2024 Group D match being played at the BVB Stadion Dortmund.
The French keeper guessed the right direction and made the save, but VAR checks revealed that he had come off his line before Lewandowski had made contact with the ball. The referee promptly had the penalty retaken.
The Polish captain made sure not to repeat the mistake and safely dispatched the ball into the back of the net in his second attempt, to draw level.
KYLIAN MBAPPE SCORESKylian Mbappe scored in the 56th minute for France against Poland in its Group D clash of Euro 2024 at the BVB Stadion Dortmund.
Mbappe converted from the penalty spot after Ousmane Dembele was fouled by Jakub Kiwior inside the penalty box, 10 minutes into the second half.
This is the France captain’s first-ever goal in the Euros. Mbappe did feature in the Euro 2020 edition but failed to find the net in its four games since it was knocked out in the Round of 16 by Switzerland on penalties.
DRINKS BREAKIn the 28th minute of the France vs Poland clash, the referee stopped the game for a short drinks break. This is the first time this has ever happened in Euro 2024.
Even in the Netherlands vs Austria clash the referee halted the play and called for a drinks break in the 34th minute of the game.
It is 27 degree Celsius in Dortmund where the France game is taking place whereas 28 degree Celsius in Berlin where the Netherlands game is going on.
MBAPPE STARTSMbappé sustained a broken nose in France’s opening 1-0 win over Austria and didn’t come off the bench for the 0-0 draw with the Netherlands on Friday, despite France coach Didier Deschamps having sounded optimistic his star forward could play while wearing a face mask.
Mbappé has since featured in a behind-closed-doors match against a local team and was deemed fit to play against Poland, despite Deschamps was being coy about the situation in his eve-of-match news conference on Monday.
FRANCE SECURES QUALIFICATIONFrance confirmed a spot in the knockouts after Albania lost to Spain in the Group B match on Monday. After qualifying France is the only European side that have gone through the group stage of every EURO/World Cup since 2012 (7/7)
WOJCIECH SZCZESNY BENCHEDPoland’s most successful goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was named on the bench for its match against France.
Szczesny, who plays for Juventus in the Serie A, has over 80 caps for Poland and has represented the country in four European Championships (2012, 2016. 2020 and 2024) and two FIFA World Cups (2018 and 2022).
The reason for Szczesny is more tactical than injury-based. The 34-year-old started in both of Poland’s matches in the European Championships this time, with the Poles losing both games, 1-2 to Netherlands and 1-3 to Austria, respectively.
“Will there be a change in goalkeeper? Yes. From the beginning of the match against France,” Poland coach Michal Probierz told reporters in the pre-match press conference.
