Euro Result: Poland 1-2 Netherlands

In the 81st minute, Wout Weghorst came off the substitute to give the Netherlands their first Group D victory.

At the Volkswagenparkstadion, Cody Gakpo’s well-drilled attempt within the first two minutes set the tone, and Wojciech Szczęsny had to step in quickly.

The Netherlands’ direct approach seems to have taken Poland by surprise as their long balls from deep were aimed at the center of the Eagles’ defense.

Further Dutch pressure followed, with Tijjani Reijnders dragging wide after a clever connection with Jerdy Schouten. Nevertheless, Poland remained unwavering, established a footing, and took the lead as soon as Adam Buksa outran Dutch defenders to flick in a superb Piotr Zieliński corner.

The Oranje answered back. The first Polish goalie to play in four EUROs, Szczęsny, had to deflect a shot from the edge of the box from Virgil van Dijk. Memphis Depay also had two near misses.

With only a little over thirty minutes remaining, Michał Probierz’s team, unable to field the injured Robert Lewandowski, was brought back to earth when Gakpo’s long-range effort swerved past Szczęsny. Depay created an opportunity to put the Netherlands ahead just before halftime, but he mishandled the ball.

The Oranje were fast out of the traps in the second half, and Xavi Simons and Depay created many early opportunities.

As a counterattack, Poland’s Jakub Kiwior and Zieliński put Bart Verbruggen to the test, and Probierz’s squad went on to have their finest play of the afternoon.

But just when it appeared that a draw would be inevitable, Wout Weghorst, a replacement, grabbed Nathan Aké’s pass in the 81st minute and scored the winning goal two minutes and eighteen seconds after coming in.

Poland had a dismal result, but the Dutch emerged victorious from a competitive match in Group D because to their perseverance and Ronald Koeman’s substitutions.

Important Statistic

In all 13 of their previous encounters with Poland, the Netherlands has gone undefeated (D5 L7). Their previous loss came in a 2-0 victory at home during EURO 1980 qualification.
At a European Championship, the Netherlands has already defeated eighteen different countries. Only Germany has more victories (19).
With the exception of shootouts,Poland has only won two of their fifteen games in the competition; both of their wins were in the 2016 group stage (D7 L6).
The first player to represent Poland in four EURO final tournaments (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) is Wojciech Szczęsny.
Bart Verbruggen, a goalkeeper from the Netherlands, made history by being the youngest goalie to play at a EURO since José Ángel Iribar of Spain in 1964, at the age of 21 years and 303 days.
For the Netherlands, Cody Gakpo has scored in four straight major tournament group games (three at the 2022 World Cup and one at EURO 2024).
With Adam Buksa’s goal in his EURO debut, Poland now has four players with that feat: Robert Lewandowski (2012), Arkadiusz Milik (2016), and Karol Linetty (2020).
After coming off the bench, Wout Weghorst scored the quickest goal by a Netherlands replacement at a EURO in two minutes and eighteen seconds.
Poland and the Netherlands were playing each other in a major competition for the first time.