The final clash from Group D of the Euro 2024 will kick off on Tuesday at 9:30 pm IST as France takes on Poland in Dortmund’s famous Westfalenstadion.
After their goalless draw against the Netherlands, Didier Deschamps’ team currently stand second in the group behind the Dutch, and the Poland game is a good chance for them to ascertain their entry into the Round of 16. It’s also the chance for Les Blues to score their first goal of the tournament, a rather surprising stat for such a talented squad, as their only goal at the Euros was Austria’s own goal.
However, despite scoring 2 goals in two games, Poland won’t have anything to play for except pride. Michal Probierz’s side was the first team to get eliminated from the tournament after their 3-1 defeat against Austria. The team was already weakened by the absence of the star man, Robert Lewandowski, but the striker could not make much difference after coming on at the hour mark.
Probierz said after the Austria game,
“We conceded a goal very soon after he came on, so things changed. We knew this would be a highly intensive match, and we decided with the medical team and Robert that he would not start. We hoped that we could break through in the second half.”
Current Form
After entering the competition through an unbeaten campaign, France won 3 games from their last 6 and only lost a friendly against the host, Germany.
But the defeat against Germany might not worry Deschamps as much as their lack of goals in June. After hammering Luxembourg 3-0, Les Blues are yet to score a goal in 3 games. It might also indicate France’s reliance on Kylian Mbappe as the new Real Madrid forward didn’t start 2 of 3 games when France didn’t score. Yet, the French might not have to worry about goalscoring against their next opponents have been leaking goals lately.
Poland’s journey to Germany was through a hard-fought qualifying campaign. After finishing third in the qualifiers behind Albania and Czechia, they qualified only after a penalty shootout victory in the play-offs against Wales.
In the 6 games played in 2024, the Poles won 3 but lost both their group games at the Euros. Probierz’s side also conceded 8 goals, including 5 in the competition, and facing the French firepower will be their real test.
Head to Head Record
France and Poland have clashed 17 times in the past, and France edges with 9 wins. Poland won the clash 5 times in history but their last victory over France was in 1982.
Their most recent battle took place in the Round of 16 of FIFA World Cup 2022 with France slamming Poland 3-1 with the help of Mbappe’s brace.
Team News
Kylian Mbappe watched the game against the Netherlands from the sideline due to injury
Unfortunately, the goalscorer from France’s last game against Poland might still be unavailable. Mbappe watched France’s game against the Netherlands from the sidelines due to the freakish nose injury, and the chances of Deschamps risking him for the last group game are very slim.
Despite failing to score against the Dutch, the manager defended his decision to rest Mbappe,
“I am not concerned. It is just the name of the game. Sometimes you have countless chances and don’t hit the back of the net and sometimes it is the other way round. I would be worried if there were not any chances. Efficiency at high-level football is important and it is something we can work on.”
Deschamps will be put to a test against Poland as his team was unable to win their last 7 games without Mbappe in the starting XI.
For Poland, the only change expected is the inclusion of Lewandowski in the starting XI at the expense of Krzysztof Piatek.
Predicted Starting XIs
France (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Theo Hernandez; N’Golo Kante, Aurelien Tchouameni; Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot; Marcus Thuram
Poland (3-4-1-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Jan Bednarek, Pawel Dawidowicz, Jakub Kiwior; Przemyslaw Frankowski, Bartosz Slisz, Jakub Piotrowski, Nicola Zalewski; Piotr Zieliński; Robert Lewandowski, Adam Buksa
Prediction
Even without Mbappe, the French attack might turn out to be too much for already struggling Poland. Les Blues should create more chances and would be the favorite to win the game by a comfortable margin.