France vs Poland
France’s bid to secure a top-table finish in Euro 2024 Group D depends on beating beleaguered Poland at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.
An electrifying Group D finale is upon us, with only one point separating the three sides ahead of round three. After an unconvincing 1-0 win against Austria on day one, a galore of wasted opportunities saw France share the spoils with the Netherlands. With four points, Les Bleus will qualify for the knockout stages by avoiding defeat against the already-eliminated Poland. However, Didier Deschamps will gun for three points, especially after his men failed to score in their opening two Euro 2024 fixtures, considering their only strike was the doing of Austrian defender Maximilian Wober. Worryingly for the France faithful, the Euro 2000 winners have failed to win their matchday-three encounter across their last eight appearances at major international tournaments (D4, L4).
Extending the French unenviable record would only soften the blow of becoming the first nation to be eliminated from Euro 2024 following a dreadful start to Group D. Poland began the tournament with a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands before Austria thumped them 3-1 last time out, with both defeats coming courtesy of goals conceded beyond the hour mark. Despite welcoming standout forward Robert Lewandowski back to the fold against the Austrians, Poland extended their winless run at the Euro finals to six consecutive games (D2, L4 – 90 minutes only). A seventh winless outing looms as the Poles have lost their final group-stage match at the Euro finals in three of their last four appearances. On top of that, they’re without a win against France since 1982, going winless in eight successive H2Hs since (D4, L4).