Arsenal had a few players in action at Euro 2024 on Tuesday, with William Saliba taking on Jakub Kiwior and eliminated Poland with France and Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka facing Slovenia with England, with Aaron Ramsdale on the bench.
Both countries had already secured progression to the knockout stages, but there was still a lot to play for, with the chance to win their respective groups.
Saliba was up first, and he helped France reach the last 15 minutes of the game with a 1-0 lead (due to a penalty conceded by Kiwior), making it almost three games without conceding a goal.
Then his centre-back partner Dayot Upamecano conceded a penalty, which Robert Lewandowski converted at the second attempt. France goalkeeper Mike Maignan came off his line to save the first try.
The subsequent 1-1 draw wasn’t enough to get top spot, with Austria winning their game against the Netherlands to finish a point ahead of France. As a result, France are on the same side of the knockout draw as Spain, Germany, and Portugal.
The day got more frustrating for Saliba afterwards, as L’Equipe report (via GFFN) that he was designated for a lengthy anti-doping control check. The tests took so long that the team bus left without him at 20:00 BST.
Saliba was eventually able to leave the ground at 21:30 BST, with a few members of the France coaching staff.
England then played out a dire 0-0 draw with Slovenia, but they were bailed out by Denmark also drawing 0-0 with Serbia. As a result, Gareth Southgate’s side topped the group and will face the third-place team from Group D or E.
Which Arsenal players have qualified for the Euro 2024 knockouts?
Kai Havertz (Germany), David Raya (Spain), Jorginho (Italy), Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Aaron Ramsdale (England), and William Saliba (France) have all qualified for the knockout stages.
At the time of writing, Leandro Trossard (Belgium) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine) are still not guaranteed progression, and the two teams face each other on Wednesday night.
Jakub Kiwior (Poland) and Kieran Tierney (Scotland) have already been eliminated from the tournament.