Poland, Netherlands meet in Group D opener at UEFA Euro 2024 on TSN

Poland’s recent run of form against Netherlands has not been great, and they will look for better as the teams meet in their Group D opener at UEFA Euro 2024.

Catch Poland vs. Netherlands LIVE on Sunday with coverage getting underway at 8:30am ET/5:30am PT. on TSN4/5, CTV, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.

Netherlands are unbeaten in their last 12 matches against Poland, a stat that dates back to a European Championship qualifying draw in 1979, including a 2-0 victory when the teams last met in the 2022 UEFA Nations League.

Each team will be trying to get off the mark in the competition with a game against powerhouse France lurking on their schedules.

"Every opponent [in the group] is difficult: maybe not at the same quality level as France, which is the second match, but Poland are a well-organized, strong, defensively solid team,” Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman said ahead of the match. “They are physically strong and, of course, always have a number of [talented] players in midfield. So we shouldn't assume we are just going to win the first game. We will have to be very fit and sharp for that."

Netherlands will be forced to play in Germany without two important members of their team.

Midfielder Frenkie de Jong was ruled out of the tournament due to an ankle injury, while fellow midfielder Teun Koopmeiners hurt his groin while warming up for their final pre-tournament friendly against Iceland and will also not take part at Euro 2024.

Poland did not escape the injury bug heading into the competition, as they will be without Robert Lewandowski, perhaps their most important player, for the opener.

The 35-year-old was forced off against Turkey in their final warm up match with a right leg injury that the team later diagnosed as a torn biceps femoris muscle.

Lewandowski is the team’s captain and also his nation’s all-time leading scorer with 82 goals.

"We know how strong the Netherlands are,” Poland head coach Michał Probierz said. “We have respect for them, but we are not afraid of them. There has been progress in Robert Lewandowski's recovery, so we hope he will come back for the game against Austria. Our tactics? If we go into the game just to survive, it won't work.”

Poland will be playing in their fifth consecutive European Championship since making their tournament debut in 2008.

They have only made it into the knockout stage once, in 2016, where they earned a win over Switzerland on penalties before bowing out in the quarterfinals.

Netherlands were eliminated in the Round of 16 at UEFA Euro 2020 after storming through the group stage undefeated, including a win over Austria who they will face in their final round robin game in Germany.

They captured the European Championship in 1988.