Kickoff chronicles

Group D: Netherlands vs Austria, France vs Poland

The first games of day 12 were played at the Olympiastadion Berlin, and the BVB Stadion Dortmund with Netherlands taking on Austria and France playing Poland. Top spot was up for grabs with France, Netherlands, and Austria all capable of taking it. Poland were playing most likely for pride as they sat bottom with 0 points. 

There was a shock start to the Netherlands vs Austria game just after 5 minutes, Austria went ahead 1-0 due to a freak own goal from Donyell Malen. Alexander Prass drilled a ball across the penalty area from the left side of the pitch. Sliding in to clear the cross was the unfortunate Malen who had to watch as the ball spun off the tip of his boot and into the bottom corner of his own net. Austria continued to dominate the ball and saw out the half leading 0-1 over Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side. Over at the Stadion Dortmund, it finished 0-0 at half time with France dominating and being denied on multiple occasions by Polish shot stopper Lukasz Skorupski. 

The Netherlands then made the perfect start to the second period, equalising inside 2 minutes. Xavi Simons played Coady Gakpo into the left side of the Austrian penalty area. The Liverpool striker cut it back onto his favoured right foot and curled his shot into the far corner, watching it glide along the side netting. 

There was then finally some action in Dortmund when Ousmane Dembele won France a penalty after he was brought down by Polish and Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior. The masked Kylian Mbappe stepped up to take it, having not played their tie against the Dutch due to his broken nose. He still stepped up to convert, placing it into the right side of the Polish net and making it 1-0.

In Berlin, Austria then went on to restore their advantage when Romano Schmid scored in the 59th minute to make it 1-2. Florian Grillitsch sprinted to the bi-line to cross in a pass that was maybe a bit too heavy. His cross was perfect though as Schmid was able to get on the end of it, throwing his body at the ball as he watched it hit the post and bobble into the bottom left corner. To the disappointment of the Austrian players and fans, the Netherlands struck back 16 minutes later in the 75th minute. Gakpo’s cross from the left wing into the penalty area was headed into Memphis Depay’s path by Wout Weghourst. Depay opened his body up, controlling with his chest before prodding the ball into the top right corner. It was now tied at 2 each with both teams fighting it out for a further 15 minutes with a much favoured 2nd place on the line.

Back over at the other fixture, Poland found a glorious opportunity to strike level when Karol Swiderski had his feet taken away from him inside the penalty area by French centre back Dayot Umpamecano. Robert Lewnadowski’s initial penalty was palmed away by French shot stopper Mike Maignan but VAR later found out both his feet were over the line. Lewandowski stepped up to take his 2nd penalty and buried it in the same corner, with France now dropping to 2nd in Group D.

Austria then shocked everyone by regaining their lead 5 minutes later against the Netherlands when Marcel Sabitzer scored to make it 2-3 and take them into 1st place in the Group. Sabitzer started the move, progressing through half of the pitch before passing it on. He then went on to make a smart run inside the penalty area where Christoph Baumgartner saw his move and played it into him. Sabitzer looked to have taken the ball too far and made his angle too tight but there was ice in the veins of the Austrian midfielder as he smashed the ball into the top right corner, winning the game for Ralf Ragnicks side. The box-to-box group stage game ended 2-3, and with Poland causing an upset against France, holding them at 1-1, Austria topped Group D to the shock of the majority of football fans. France finished 2nd by 1 point and Netherlands finished 3rd on 4 points. There is no need to worry for the Dutch fans though as they are currently top of the 3rd placed teams. Poland will go home disappointed with their tournament, not living up to the fans expectations after they made it to the Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup. Austria will take on 2nd in Group F while France will play 2nd in Group E. The Netherlands will play the 1st placed team from either Group B,C, or E.

Group C: England vs Slovenia, Denmark vs Serbia

The final round of Group C saw England take on Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium and Denmark play Serbia at the Munich Football Arena. This group was still in the balance with England the only team to have won a game so far, placing at the top but there was only 3 points separating themselves and Serbia at the bottom. Denmark and Slovenia had drawn both of their fixtures so far. 20 minutes into the England game, The Three Lions thought they had taken the lead when Bukayo Saka tapped the ball into an empty net after a brilliant England move. Kieran Trippier played it to Declan Rice, who was just outside the penalty area, where the Arsenal midfielder played a smart reverse pass to Phil Foden. Foden then had acres of space to put the ball on a plate for Saka to score. It was eventually chalked off for offside as Foden didn’t time his run to perfection but it was their best move of the tournament so far. 

Over in Munich, Denmark had a goal ruled out as well just 3 minutes after England’s. Christian Erksen played a very direct corner as Jonas Wind stood in front of Serbian keeper Predrag Rajkovic. The ball cushioned off his chest and over the line but it was ruled out as the original corner was proved to have gone out of play and back in. Both halves finished goalless with Slovenia and Denmark knowing if they both held out for draws, the two sides would qualify for the knockouts with 3 points each. Overall though, England and Denmark were the dominant sides in the respectives ties.

Serbia came out firing for the 2nd half, knowing they were still in the conversation to qualify, just needing to win. The Serbian fans thought they had found the opener just 7 minutes into the 2nd period but that too was disallowed. Aleksandar Mitrovic rounded Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel before sliding in to tap the ball over the line. Instead, Joachim Andersen did it for him, not able to stop himself from running into the ball as he was sprinting back to stop Mitrovic. It was later flagged for offside though as Mitrovic started his run too early. In the end the task was too much for Serbia as they failed to break down Denmark’s resilient defence. The game finished 0-0 with Denmark 2nd with the way things were looking over in Cologne. With only moments left to play, England found a golden opportunity to knick the game at the death. Anthony Gordon played a ball to Kobbie Mainoo from the halfway line where Mainoo back-heeled it to Harry Kane. Kane then played one more ball to Cole Palmer who had plenty of space to get a shot away. In the end Palmer’s shot was very tame as he watched Slovenian keeper Jan Oblak get low and save his effort. It finished 0-0 with Slovenia holding out for a historic draw, making it to the knockout stages in 3rd place for the first time in their history. 

England top the group with 5 points but it has been a very underwhelming start to the tournament for Gareth Southgate’s side as they scored just  2 goals across all 3 games. It was so close between Denmark and Slovenia for 2nd place, level on points, goal difference, and yellow cards with their route to qualification deciding who took the preferred 2nd spot. England will play a 3rd placed team from either Group D,E, or F. Denmark will take on Germany in their first knockout game while Slovenia will play the winner from Group E or F. 

Written by Ollie Wade