the French team finishes second in its group after its draw against Poland and does not reassure before the round of 16

In addition to being unable to beat an opponent already eliminated (1-1), on Tuesday, the Blues will find themselves in the most difficult part of the table.

The French team had the opportunity to achieve a double blow: to finally score on their own and finish first in their group. She only accomplished one of these two missions, Tuesday June 25, drawing a match (1-1) against a Polish team that had already been eliminated. The Blues thought they had done the hard part by opening the score thanks to a penalty from Kylian Mbappé (56th), author of his first goal in a Euro, but were punished in the same exercise by Robert Lewandowski (78th).

The result is insufficient to regain first place in Group D, scraped by Austria, who fell to the Netherlands (3-2) at the same time. In the round of 16, the Blues will face the second in Group E on Monday July 1 in Düsseldorf, Belgium, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine (all tied before their last match). Above all, they are transferred to the highest part of the table, where Germany, Portugal and Spain are certain to appear.

The good news is that the French team has six days to prepare for its match, which will not be too much to try to erase the many shortcomings seen. The return of Kylian Mbappé and the tenure of Bradley Barcola have not changed the face of this team, which is still ineffective despite its domination. A goal during the game is still awaited even though the group stage has just ended.

Opposite, if the Polish goalkeeper Lukas Skorupski, usual substitute, certainly made seven saves, it is the lack of edge and inspiration of the French attackers which will remain in memory. Of the 49 shots attempted in three matches by the Blues, only one shook the net, on a penalty. With a little more realism, they would have taken off and Robert Lewandowski’s goal would not have been enough to keep them in check on Tuesday.

The frustration is all the greater since Mike Maignan had stopped the Pole’s first attempt, which returned to the pitch of the stadium which saw him explode in the Bundesliga. VAR intervened to tell the AC Milan goalkeeper that he did not have both feet on his line. Once tied, the Blues no longer offered anything coherent in the last ten minutes and even backed down in the face of the fervor of a Polish public particularly happy to see their team save the honor.

For the first time in the Didier Deschamps era, the France team did not finish first in its group in a major tournament (Euro and World Cup). A trigger is expected to find the face of the finalist of the last World Cup.