Two late goals secured a hard-fought win for Austria, boosting their hopes of reaching the last 16 at Euro 2024, while Poland became the first nation to be eliminated.
This result, combined with France’s draw with the Netherlands later on Friday, ensured Poland will finish bottom of Group D even if they win their final game.
With both Austria and Poland having lost their opening matches, they arrived in Berlin knowing that another defeat could end their tournament.
The high stakes gave the match the feel of a knockout tie, with fans from both sides creating a noisy atmosphere at the Olympiastadion, mirrored by a frenetic tempo on the pitch.
Austria struck first when Gernot Trauner headed home Phillipp Mwene’s cross at the near post.
Poland struggled to get out of their own half initially but quickly improved and began pressing for an equalizer.
It came after 30 minutes when a cross from the right was not properly cleared. Although Jan Bednarek’s shot was blocked, Krzysztof Piatek pounced on the rebound to fire low into the net.
Clear chances were scarce after that, even when Poland’s star striker Robert Lewandowski came off the bench. However, as the game entered the final stages, Austria found the inspiration they needed.
Marko Arnautovic’s dummy gave Christoph Baumgartner time and space to advance to the edge of the area, where he coolly slotted past Wojciech Szczesny.
Austria’s victory was sealed a few minutes later. With Poland pushing forward in search of an equalizer, Marcel Sabitzer broke clear and, although brought down by Szczesny, Arnautovic converted the resulting penalty.
Poland the first team to go home
Arnautovic’s goal ignited wild celebrations among Austria fans, who had seen their team narrowly beaten by France in the opening game. They now travel to Dortmund on Tuesday to face the Dutch with renewed hope of progressing.
Meanwhile, Poland became the first of the 24 teams participating in Euro 2024 to be eliminated when the Netherlands failed to beat France in Leipzig.
Although Poland can still finish level on points with Austria, who are currently third, the head-to-head record between the two will determine their final standing.
This defeat means Poland only have pride to play for now, even if their record goalscorer Lewandowski is able to start their final match against France after recovering from a thigh injury.
Lewandowski was brought off the bench for the final half-hour, and while his introduction was met with a wild reaction from Poland fans, he was unable to make the desired impact.
His teammates could not provide him with a single chance to add to his tally of 82 international goals. Instead, it was the fiery Arnautovic, starting his first competitive game for Austria since September, who settled the match.
Austria’s ‘most important’ match
Austria boss Ralf Rangnick said afterwards that this was the “most important match” he had faced since he took charge in April 2022.
Before their defeat to France, which was also the first time in almost two years they had failed to score, his side had lost only one of their 16 previous games.
Their form has seen them tipped to be this tournament’s surprise package and Baumgartner, who was named player of the match for his performance against Poland, felt that tag has helped rather than hindered them.
“Somehow it is nice to be called that,” Baumgartner said. “We had a really good period and people started to think big quite quickly, but we as a team knew how to assess the situation.
“We knew that against France we weren’t at our maximum but that’s what we need – if we do that, we can beat a lot of nations.
“So this pressure is mainly coming from ourselves because we know about our quality. It would have been a big, big shame if we had lost this game because it would have been tight for us then.
“We still have a lot of work in front of us but this victory was really important for us, and hopefully we can continue like that.”
Poland head coach Michal Probierz faced several questions about Lewandowski’s condition and revealed the veteran striker was fully fit, despite starting on the bench.
“He was fully fit and he has practised with the team,” said Probierz.
“We knew that this would be a highly intensive match and we decided with the medical team and Lewandowski himself that he wouldn’t start from the first minute.
“We wanted to get through that Austrian defence in the second half and it’s a pity we couldn’t score that second goal before them.”