France ended their Euro 2024 group campaign with a 1-1 draw against Poland on Tuesday. Kylian Mbappe scored on his return to action after breaking his nose in the opening match against Austria, but a Robert Lewandowski penalty earned Poland a draw. The result leaves France second in Group D behind Austria, while the Netherlands finish third.
Mbappe’s return will be welcome news for France and their hopes of winning the tournament, with the Real Madrid star wearing a mask to protect his broken nose. The forward had been warned before the game by Lewandowski that wearing a mask could “slow a player down” and Deschamps admitted it had affected his star on Tuesday.
Mbappé embarrassed by his mask
He told reporters: “I found him very good on his supports, but he needs to get used to his mask. When he sweats, it stings his eyes and he has to wipe his eyes, but he still wants to play and this match will do him good.”
Deschamps also felt his team deserved to finish in second place in the group: “ I’m not disappointed, honestly not at all. We did what we had to do, we created a lot of chances and we led. We tried until the end. We are where we want to be. We were in a very difficult group: Austria lost to us and won against the Netherlands. We deserve to be second, it’s a new competition in the round of 16. It’s obvious that we have to improve, score more goals. But to be honest, I would have been more worried if we had had fewer chances to score.”
