The Netherlands, France, Germany and Spain will fight hard in the top half, Austria unexpectedly won the first place in the group, and the European Cup is getting better
In the early morning of June 26th, Beijing time, in the third round of the European Cup Group B, Austria played the role of a dark horse and defeated the Netherlands 3-2, rising to the top of the group with 6 points. In another match, Mbappe and Lewandowski each scored a penalty, and France was tied 1-1 by Poland, ranking second in the group. In the knockout stage, it will be in the devil's upper half with Germany, Spain and Portugal.
There is a gap between Austria and the Netherlands in terms of strength, but under the leadership of the famous coach Rangnick, the Austrian team played at a high level in this match. Just 5 minutes and 48 seconds into the game, Austrian team Plas made a cross from the left, and Dutch team Malen quickly returned to defense and scored the ball into his own goal with a "shovel shot". The fastest own goal in the history of the European Cup was born, which is also the fastest goal in the history of the European Cup for the Austrian team. There are many own goals in this European Cup, and "Own Goal" continues to top the scorer list of this European Cup with 7 goals.
After the change of sides, the two teams started a goal-scoring war, pushing the battle for the top spot in Group D to a climax. First, in the 47th minute, Gakpo equalized the score for the Netherlands with a right-foot shot. In the 59th minute, Schmid headed the ball to help Austria take the lead again. In the 75th minute, substitute Weghorst assisted and Depay equalized the score. In the 80th minute, Sabitzer shot from a small angle, giving the Dutch a fatal blow. In the end, Austria defeated the Netherlands 3-2 in an upset, surpassing France and the Netherlands to top the group.
This is the first time in 46 years that Austria has won the first place in the group in a major tournament, and the first time in 42 years that they have won consecutive victories in a major tournament. In the last two group matches, they scored 6 goals, which is equal to the total goals of France and the Netherlands. So far, only the host Germany has scored more goals than them, which is impressive and has become the biggest dark horse of this European Cup. The Dutch team, which has the honor of being the uncrowned king, and the defense led by Van Dijk, Ake, and De Ligt were considered the strongest in this tournament before the start of the game, but they performed mediocrely in front of the Austrian team and proved to be just a facade. The defense was not as solid as expected, and there was a lack of heavyweight players in the midfield and frontcourt. After the Dutch team fell to third in the group, the situation in the knockout stage was not optimistic.
Before the last round of Group D, France had already qualified. Except for the group ranking, the biggest suspense was when Mbappe would score his first goal in the European Cup. After missing one game due to a nose injury, Mbappe returned wearing a mask. Facing Poland, Deschamps did not send Giroud and Griezmann, two regular starters. The forward trident copied the combination of Paris Saint-Germain, and arranged for Mbappe's two former club teammates Dembele and Barkola to play as assistants.
In the first half, this combination broke through the Polish defense from the wing many times, but they were not good enough in front of the goal. In the 55th minute of the second half, Dembele was brought down by Chivio in the penalty area, and France had a good chance for a penalty kick. Mbappe took the lead and scored a penalty kick, breaking his own goal drought in the European Cup and helping the French team take the lead. Scoring 12 goals in 14 World Cup games and only 1 goal in 6 European Cup games, the European Cup is indeed more difficult for Mbappe than the World Cup. With these 13 goals, Mbappe became the second scorer in the history of the French team in major tournaments, second only to Platini who scored 14 times in major tournaments. It is only a matter of time before he surpasses him.
Poland had never lost all three games in a major tournament group stage, and they wanted to defend their bottom line this time. In the 76th minute, Upamecano fouled in the penalty area and Poland also got a penalty. Lewandowski's first penalty was saved by Maignan, but the referee ruled that the goalkeeper moved early, and Lewandowski got a chance to retake the penalty. This time Lewandowski's penalty was more tricky, and Maignan was powerless, and the score was tied at 1-1. There was no progress in the rest of the game, and the French team had no choice but to accept a draw and the second place in the group. This was the first time in the past six major tournaments that the French team failed to advance to the knockout stage as the first in the group, dragged down by the poor performance on the offensive end.
In the three group matches, the French team only scored two goals, one was an own goal and one was a penalty kick. There was no goal in open play, which made the luxurious forward line led by Mbappe quite embarrassed. The two goals tied for the second worst in the history of the French team in the European Cup, only one goal was less in 2008. Including this game, the French team only won 1 and tied 5 in regular time in the past 6 European Cup games, which is more consistent with Mbappe's 1 goal in 6 European Cup games.
On June 20, England player Harry Kane celebrated a goal during the game.
On the same day, England drew 1-1 with Denmark in the second round of Group C of the 2024 European Football Championship held in Frankfurt, Germany.
Now, after France, which ranked second in the group, entered the upper half of the knockout stage, the "death" atmosphere of this half is even stronger. Germany, Spain, Portugal, and France have gathered together. Before the start of the game, the only team in the top five of the championship odds list is England. This means that if there is no upset, the quarter-finals of the upper half may see extreme situations such as Germany against Spain and France against Portugal, and the four favorites to win the championship will stage a cruel "battle royale". However, these four teams should also thank England for not joining in the fun. In the two games of Group C that ended later, England drew 0-0 with Slovenia, and Denmark also drew 0-0 with Serbia. England, Denmark, and Slovenia ranked in the top three of the group and advanced together. England avoided the upper half of the strong team as expected.
