Austria secured a crucial 3-1 victory over Poland in their Euro 2024 Group D encounter, revitalizing their chances for advancing to the knockout stage. The result places Austria with three points from two matches, alongside France and the Netherlands who also compete for top-two positions.
The match began intensely, with Austria exerting early pressure that paid off in the ninth minute when Gernot Trauner scored with a powerful header at the near post.
Despite Poland’s efforts, including Krzysztof Piatek’s equalizer in the 30th minute after his initial shot was blocked, Austria regained control with Christoph Baumgartner’s well-executed finish inside the box in the 66th minute. Marco Arnautovic sealed the victory with a penalty 12 minutes later.
Robert Lewandowski, returning from injury, entered the game in the 60th minute for Poland but was unable to alter the course of the match.
With this defeat, Poland finds themselves at the bottom of Group D without any points and facing an uphill battle to progress to the next stage of the tournament.