Austria pulls off shocker by winning Group D ahead of France, Netherlands
Austria shocked the Netherlands 3-2 to finish atop Group D ahead of a France side that tied Poland 1-1 in the concurrent match Tuesday.
France and the Netherlands were already guaranteed places in the round of 16 entering the respective games.
But Ralf Rangnick's men leapfrogged the European giants after a dramatic finale in Berlin.
| # | Nation | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austria | +2 | 6 |
| 2 | France | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Poland | -3 | 1 |
The Dutch fell behind early after Donyell Malen's sixth-minute own goal. Cody Gakpo's quick goal after halftime briefly restored hope for the Netherlands before Romano Schmid gave Austria the lead 12 minutes later.
The Netherlands came back again and looked likely to finish in second with just over 10 minutes left after Memphis Depay made it 2-2 in the 76th minute.
But Austria took the lead for the third and final time in the 80th minute after Marcel Sabitzer scored to secure a famous victory for Das Team.
Austria's only other appearance in the round of 16 was at Euro 2020, where it fell to eventual tournament winner Italy.
"If you beat the Netherlands and win the group, then you can't be that bad ... When you win like that, win the group, score the winning goal, it doesn't get any better than that," Sabitzer said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said something "has to change" if his team is to "achieve anything" in the knockout stage.
"We are all responsible for this - there is not one or two guilty people," he added.
In the other contest, France was the favorite against an already eliminated Poland team. But Didier Deschamps' side had a difficult time breaking down Poland before France was awarded a penalty in the second half.
Kylian Mbappe, wearing a mask in his first game back since breaking his nose in France's opener against Austria, scored a penalty to break the deadlock. It was the first European Championship goal of his career.
But Poland equalized 23 minutes later after Robert Lewandowski converted a penalty in his first start of the tournament following an injury of his own.