Two-time European Championship winners France are set to face Poland, who have already been eliminated, in their final Group D match at Euro 2024. The game will take place at Borussia Dortmund’s Signal-Iduna-Park at 7 PM East Africa time.
France, currently second in Group D behind the Netherlands on goals scored, have had a mixed start to the tournament. They secured a narrow 1-0 victory against Austria but were held to a 0-0 draw by the Netherlands. The latter match saw controversy as Xavi Simons’s goal was disallowed due to an interference call against Denzel Dumfries.
Despite criticism of manager Didier Deschamps for not fully utilizing the talent at his disposal, France has shown promising performances from key players such as Theo Hernandez, Kylian Mbappe, and N’Golo Kante. Notably, Mbappe missed the draw against the Netherlands due to a broken nose but is expected to return for the Poland clash after participating in a closed-door friendly where he scored twice.
Poland, managed by Michal Probierz, have struggled in this tournament, losing their first two matches to the Netherlands and Austria. Even if they win against France, they cannot advance due to Austria’s superior head-to-head record.
Poland’s challenges have been exacerbated by injuries to key players, including top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who has had limited impact due to a thigh problem. Despite a strong run of form leading into the tournament, their performance at Euro 2024 continues a trend of disappointing major tournament showings.
For France, avoiding defeat against Poland or Austria failing to beat the Netherlands will ensure their progression to the round of 16. A win for France, combined with a non-win for the Netherlands, would see them top the group.
A clean sheet for France in this match would set a new record for the team, having never conceded zero goals in the group stages of the Euros before. Historically, this would mark their eighth qualification from the group stages and potentially their sixth time topping the group.
France is likely to see Kylian Mbappe return to the starting lineup. Deschamps faces a selection dilemma between Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni. Poland has injury concerns with Bartosz Salamon and will likely start Lewandowski, who could be playing his last major international tournament match.
Prediction: France 3-1 Poland
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