Kylian Mbappé marked his return to the France starting lineup by scoring during their 1-1 draw with Poland in the final Group D match at Euro 2024. This draw secured France's place in the knockout stage of the tournament.
This match was Mbappé's first since he broke his nose during France's opening game, a 1-0 victory over Austria. Despite being named on the bench, he did not play in their 0-0 draw against the Netherlands last Friday.
France ended group play with one win and two draws from three matches. They dominated possession and consistently pressured the Polish goal. The breakthrough came early in the second half.
In the 55th minute, Ousmane Dembélé was fouled in the penalty box by Poland's Jakub Kiwior. Mbappé converted the penalty, beating goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski to give France the lead. He celebrated by removing the protective mask he is required to wear for the rest of the tournament.
Poland equalized in the 79th minute thanks to Robert Lewandowski. His penalty kick goal came after his initial attempt was saved by France's goalkeeper Mike Maignan. However, it was determined that Maignan had left the goal line early, leading to a re-kick, which Lewandowski successfully converted.
With France drawing against Poland and Austria defeating the Netherlands 3-2, Austria tops Group D, while France finishes in second place. The Netherlands, with four points, secured one of the four places allocated to the best third-place teams across the six groups in the tournament.
