France are on the verge of booking their place in the last 16 of Euro 2024, but they are ready to rediscover Kylian Mbappe while rediscovering their goal-scoring virtues ahead of Tuesday’s final group stage match against Poland. France is one of the top competitors of this tournament, with four points from its two Group D matches, but so far its performance has been really poor in terms of their attack, as it has managed to score only one goal—an own goal from Austrian defender Maximilian Woeber.
France opened their campaign by edging Austria 1-0 in Duesseldorf, followed by a goalless draw with the Netherlands in Leipzig, the night on which Mbappe was missing because of a broken nose he sustained in that first match against the Austrians. But despite the injury, the striker has been training at Paderborn with the rest of the team and is ready to wear a protective mask when he returns. Regarding his comeback, his teammates are very sure about him, especially midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who believes the presence of Mbappe will increase their threat in attack by a mile.
But Mbappe’s involvement is key—something he has already proved in France’s only goal at the Euros so far. His absence has seen even the attack of the French team unable to perform well with Marcus Thuram, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Kingsley Coman, and Randal Kolo Muani unable to find the net regularly. Despite the offensive woes of his team, Griezmann remains optimistic about the good work of the defense and midfielder, but he suggested that basically at the top, they could do a lot better with the created chances. It is at the front where France has been poor because at the back, they have been fine with good displays from the center-backs Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba, before the return of N’Golo Kante in midfield. A draw against Poland would put France through to the last 16, while even defeat might not prove terminal for their chances of progression, depending on the result of the Austria versus Netherlands game. The overriding factor, however, is topping the group to avoid stiffer opposition later on in the competition. Poland, defeated twice and already out, will look to veteran striker Robert Lewandowski, who hopes for a first start after coming on as a substitute against Austria.