In the Euro 2024 playoff final, Wales tragically lost their first ever penalty shoot-out to Poland, thus ensuring the Polish team’s ticket to Euro 2024, following a scoreless game that lasted 120 minutes. The determining penalty contest followed a high-stress match during which opportunities to score were rare. Ben Davies’ potential first-half goal was overruled due to offsides, while the final moments saw Chris Mepham receive his second yellow card and exit the game, leaving Wales with just 10 players. As the crowd at Cardiff City Stadium held on to their breath, Poland scored flawlessly in the penalty phase, with Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piątek successfully manoeuvring past Danny Ward. Wales attempted to match Poland’s numerous successful shots at goal but fell short as Daniel James’ shot was blocked by Wojciech Szczesny, resulting in Wales’ losing by 5-4 on penalties and sparking wild celebrations by the Polish team. This disappointing end for the home team concluded their aspirations of qualifying for their third consecutive European Championship. Historically, Wales had only won against Poland once before in a 1974 World Cup qualifying match and had suffered a series of defeats since then, including six successive defeats. The team had to mitigate the threat posed by Lewandowski who is currently in top form for Barcelona and was looking to increase his record tally of 82 goals for Poland. The Welsh lineup saw a single change from the 4-1 victory over Finland in Thursday’s semi-final with Moore replacing David Brooks. Poland’s team did not see any changes from the side that secured a runaway win over Estonia in their semi-final in Warsaw, yet Aston Villa’s Matty Cash was absent from the bench due to a hamstrings issue. South Wales Police had taken a firm stance against pyrotechnics in Cardiff City Stadium due to an earlier incident in 2022 when Poland had played there. Regardless, the crowd was alight with excitement and flares coloured the Polish end as the pre-match anthems were played. Poland aimed to curb Wales’ enthusiasm by maintaining control of the ball for most of the game.
Karol Swiderski marginally missed connecting with a cross from Bartosz Slisz, while Jakub Piotrowski launched a shot from 25 yards that exceeded the goalpost, contributing to Poland’s rapid steadying.
The most promising moments for Wales came from set-pieces, with Davies attempting a header over a corner offered by Wilson, and Moore misfiring a secondary opportunity.
Moore was nearly the recipient of a flick-on from Joe Rodon, following a lengthy toss by Connor Roberts, but he ran out of pitch at the byline.
As half-time approached, Wales began to claw back into the game and managed to find the net in the final instants of the half. Moore made contact with a cross from Williams at the far post, and Davies deflected his drop-down pass past Szczesny, Poland’s goalkeeper.
However, Welsh celebrations were short-lived as the assistant referee flagged the play as offside, a decision upheld by VAR that showed Davies was inches offside.
Four minutes after the second half commenced, Wales achieved their first shot on target, a header from Moore that Szczesny impressively deflected from his goal line.
Despite initial signs of instability, Poland regained their composure and increasingly began to serve up crosses into the Welsh penalty box. Jakub Kiwior sent a close-range shot over the bar from six yards out, and Swiderski guided Piotr Zielinski’s free-kick off target.
Nervous tension spread on the field as Szczesny intercepted headers from Moore and Mepham and narrowly missed an attempt by Lewandowski to avert extra time with a 25-yard-wide shot.
The 30-minute additional time was marked by Poland’s dominance, allowing Piotrowski and Szymanski opportunities. However, Wales’ goalkeeper, Ward, managed to hold the fort without making a single save throughout the match.