When the Euro 2024 groups were drawn, Group D was largely seen as the “Group of Death” with four quality sides set to compete against each other. Only the top two teams can advance to the knockout stage automatically, while the third-place team will have to hope it gets a better record than the other third-place teams across the groups. When the competition is this fierce, every result matters.
Here’s a look at the standings and results from Group D at Euro 2024.
Group D Standings
Austria, 2-0-1, 6 points, +2 GD
France, 1-2-0, 5 points, +1 GD
Netherlands, 1-1-1, 4 points, 0 GD
Poland, 0-1-2, 1 point, -3 GD
Group D Results
Netherlands 2, Poland 1
Despite missing Robert Lewandowski due to an injury, Poland got on the board courtesy of Adam Buksa and looked primed to take some points from this Group D opener. However, Cody Gakpo delivered an equalizer shortly after before Wout Weghorst once again provided some late-game heroics for the Dutch. Three crucial points for Netherlands who have not been able to do well at the Euros recently.
France 1, Austria 0
Neither team looked particularly great in this match with France missing some important chances early while Austria tried to grow into the game. Austria had the best chance of the first half but Christoph Baumgartner failed to put away what should’ve been an easy shot before France managed to get an own goal off a deflected cross in the subsequent attack. Kylian Mbappe remained scoreless in his Euro career after missing a breakaway chance, and this was an underwhelming contest across the board for both teams.
Austria 3, Poland 1
Robert Lewandowski continues to miss out for Poland, and this result likely means no shot at qualification for the team. Austria take a big step towards advacing thanks to some a great second-half goal Christoph Baumgartner and a penalty put away by Marko Arnautovic. This is a tough group, so Austria will still likely need at least a point from the final match to get to the knockout stage.
Netherlands 0, France 0
This was a largely uneventful game but there were some chances early for both sides. Kylian Mbappe did not feature in the contest for France and that took away a big part of the gameplan for the 2018 World Cup winners, who were unable to find the back of the net despite putting up 15 shots. Netherlands will have some choice words about VAR, which took away a goal on a clear offsides call. Ultimately, both teams have some work to do in the final group stage game to secure a spot in the knockout round.
Austria 3, Netherlands 2
Austria and Netherlands played a back-and-forth contest which featured another own goal and some high-stakes drama. The Austrians found the back of the net twice only for the Dutch to respond each time thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay. However, Marcel Sabitzer’s winner in the 80th minute would not get a response as Austria gets the points to advance to the knockout round. Netherlands has more points than Hungary and Croatia among the third-place teams, so the Dutch should be in regardless of other results in Groups C, E and F.
France 1, Poland 1
Kylian Mbappe finally scored a goal at the European Championship thanks to a penalty, and Poland got its prized striker Robert Lewandowski a goal courtesy of a penalty as well. France advances to the knockout round as the second-place team in Group D while Poland has to go home after failing to grab a win across three group stage matches.