A superb second-half performance boosted Austria’s hopes of making the Euro 2024 knockout stage with a 3-1 win over Poland, who became the first side to be eliminated from the tournament after Friday’s late game between Netherlands and France ended in a goalless draw.

After losing both of their group games so far, Poland’s chances of progressing from Group D already looked bleak before the draw between France and the Netherlands confirmed their early exit.

Goals from Gernot Trauner, Christian Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic kept alive Austria’s chances of reaching the next round.

The Austrians, who lost to France in their opener, survived a spirited first-half comeback in which Poland equalised and came close to taking the lead before the wheels came off in the second half.

Undeterred by news that record scorer Robert Lewandowski was still not fit to start, Polish fans lit a handful of flares as they belted out the national anthem, with a cloud of smoke wafting towards the goal Austria defended in the first half.

That was about as close as the Poles got in the opening exchanges, with Austria dominating possession through repeated attacks up the left flank and going ahead in the ninth minute.

Philipp Mwene’s long throws were a threat from the start and Austria’s goal came when one of them was headed back into his path, allowing the left back to cross for Trauner to score with a bullet header into the top corner after nine minutes.

However, Poland levelled on the half-hour mark as Austria failed to clear a corner satisfactorily and when Trauner blocked a shot from Jan Bednarek, the ball fell kindly for Krsysztof Piatek to control and then steer into the net.

Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz had to pull off a superb one-handed save in first-half stoppage time and when Lewandowski finally entered the fray on the hour Polish hopes rose, only to be quickly dashed.