The top two teams in Group C will meet each other at the Euro 2016 tournament in France this Thursday, June 15th when Germany takes on Poland at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The Germans won their first match 2-0 against 19th-ranked Ukraine while Poland edged 25th-ranked Northern Ireland 1-0. Germany enters the game as the reigning world champions and are ranked number four in the world by FIFA while Poland is ranked number 27. This is one of the toughest groups in the event and each point will be extremely valuable. The top two teams in each of the six groups will advance to the round-of-16 knockout stage and the top four third-place teams will join them.
Bet on Poland vs Northern Ireland – Pinnacle SOCCER BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle Sports currently lists Germany as the favorites at -176 with Poland +590 and a draw at +321
Poland vs Northern Ireland – Head to Head:
- Germany won their Euro 2016 home qualifier against Poland 3-1 after losing 2-0 in Poland 11 months earlier. That was Poland’s one and only win against the Germans. The previous two meetings ended in 0-0 and 2-2 draws in Germany and Poland respectively. The nations have met 20 times in the past with Germany winning 13, losing one and drawing six.
Poland won their tournament opener over Northern Ireland on a goal in the 51st minute by Akradiusz Milik. They and had a decent Euro 2016 qualifying campaign as they finished second in their group, just one point back of Germany, meaning these two teams know each other well based on recent opposition. Poland competed in Euro 2012 four years ago as one of the host nations along with Ukraine. They had a tough time of it though by winning a game and losing two and failing to advance from the group stage. Poland then failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Poland played a few pre-tournament matches in 2016 with a 1-0 win over Serbia and a 5-0 defeat of Finland as well as a 2-1 loss at home to Holland and a 0-0 draw against Lithuania. The team looks solid in goal with Wojciech Szczesny, Łukasz Fabianski, and Artur Boruc all capable netminders. Szczesny recorded the clean sheet against Northern Ireland in the opener. The defense is stable enough and the midfield boasts the likes of Jakub Blaszczykowski, Tomasz Jodłowiec, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Piotr Zielinski. The team’s forwards are Arkadiusz Milik, Robert, Lewandowski and Mariusz Stępinski with Lewandowski being among the best in the world.
Germany (West Germany), is one of the betting favorites to win Euro 2016, has won the European Championships three times in the past while Poland is seeking their first title. Germany won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but topped their Euro 2016 qualifying group by just one point over Poland. The team won the Euros in 1972, 1980 and 1996 and have also been runners up three times. They reached the semifinal stage at Euro 2012 and were beaten in the Final by Spain in 2008. The Germans played four pre-tournament games in 2016. They lost 3-2 to England at home after blowing a 2-0 lead and then downed Italy 4-1. They were also 3-1 losers to Slovakia and 2-0 winners over Hungary. As usual, the German squad is one of the strongest in the tournament, but they’ve had a hard time keeping clean sheets over the past couple of years.
However, they managed to keep one in their opening match with Ukraine with goals by Shkodran Mustafi in the 19th minute and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 92nd. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be depended on to keep the ball out of the net and he’ll be backed up by Bernd Leno and Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The defense will be relying on the likes of Jerome Boateng, Emre Can and Mats Hummels while the midfield will be led by Julian Draxler, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil and Andre Schuerrle. As far as the forwards go, Germany is strong up front with Mario Gomez, Mario Goetze and Leroy Sane while Marco Reus is out due to an injury.
by Ian S. Palmer