Last in and first out, Poland's predictable Euro 2024 demise

LEIPZIG, Germany - Poland were the last team to qualify for Euro 2024 and the first to exit the tournament, and there were enough clues from the manner in how they reached Germany for their disappointing display to come as no surprise.

Group C included one of the pre-tournament favourites France, the Netherlands, and an Austria side tipped by many as a possible dark horse in Germany and who lived up to that tag by surprisingly topping the group.

Poland did manage to play a part in that by holding France to a 1-1 draw in their final game, but by then they were playing for little more than Polish pride having lost their opening two games and it was too late to salvage anything.

The Poles finished third in a qualifying group containing Albania, Czech Republic, Moldova and the Faroe Islands, and needed a penalty shootout win over Wales in the playoffs, so there was little optimism going into Euro 2024.

The brief golden age of Polish football - two third-place finishes at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups - allows its fans to still believe that anything can happen, but the reality has been that they constantly flatter to deceive.

Poland again had their supporters believing that maybe, just maybe, they could surprise everyone and put their disappointing qualifying campaign behind them when they took an early lead against the Dutch through Adam Buksa.

Buksa would probably not have been on the pitch but for the injury which kept Poland's main threat and top scorer Robert Lewandowski out of their Euro opener, but his absence was temporarily forgotten.

The Dutch came back, and snatched a late winner when it seemed that Poland could come away with what would have been a valuable point, but the promise they showed, with more shots on target than the Netherlands, fell apart against Austria.

Poland fell behind early, but went in level at the break thanks to a Krzysztof Piatek goal. They ended up losing 3-1, with Lewandowski coming off the bench with the sides still level, but his sole contribution was a yellow card.

Poland's exit was confirmed while they weren't even on the pitch, with the scoreless draw between the Dutch and France meaning they could no longer advance.

Lewandowski did net the penalty which earned the draw with France, but for manager Michal Probierz, the time has come to look to the future if Poland are to make another attempt at rekindling the glory days.

"We should not feel sad. It's just foundations for the future to compete against every opponent that we may face," Probierz said after the final game.

Many expected 35-year-old Lewandowski to retire from international football, but he said he has no intention of leaving just yet, and he too is upbeat about Poland's future.

"We have constructed something here. I see the potential in this team. I see a lot of young players emerging."

After a third group stage exit in the last four major tournaments, there is plenty to do to bring some real optimism back to Polish football. REUTERS