MATT BARLOW AT THE STADE DE FRANCE: This time, Joachim Low was left scratching his head as opposed to another part of his anatomy as Poland made his world champions appear mortal..

Szczesny suffered the injury in the first half of his side's victory over Northern Ireland following a collision with teammate Lukasz Piszczek, but managed to complete the 90 minutes.

Poland will hope Robert Lewandowski can fire them to an automatic top-two qualification spot for Euro 2016 when they face Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon.

Poland reached the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time in their history following a 1-0 victory over neighbours Ukraine in the Stade Velodrome, Marseille.

The contrast in difficulty is summed up by the fact that the bottom half has nations with a total of 20 major titles (11 World Cups and nine Euros), while there is a total of none in the top half.

One of Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Wales are guaranteed a place in the final - none of whom have a major international honour to their name.

SECRET SCOUT: Sportsmail’s football expert has been busy scrutinising the Euros for prospective Premier League bargains this summer. 

Polish coach Adam Nawalka doesn't want striker Robert Lewandowski compared to Cristiano Ronaldo as the striker faces Switzerland on Saturday having failed to score at Euro 2016.

Switzerland and Poland have both reached the knock-out stage of the European Championship for the first time after finishing runners-up in their respective groups.

Poland are through to the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in their history after defeating Switzerland 5-4 on penalties in Saint Etienne following a 1-1 draw.

CHRIS HATHERALL IN SAINT-ETIENNE: Poland are through to the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in their history after winning on penalties against Switzerland.

After 17 days and 44 matches, Euro 2016 has now reached crunch time with eight teams left to battle it out for glory in France as the tournament reaches the finishing straight.

Despite Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo so far failing to produce a string of consistent displays, Portugal have recovered from a slow start to earn a place in the quarter-finals.

The Bayern Munich forward is the most fouled player at Euro 2016 and Nawalka thinks his star striker has been marked too tightly in France.

Arkadiusz Milik is looking forward to playing against one of his footballing heroes, Cristiano Ronaldo, when Poland face Portugal in the European Championship quarter-finals in Marseille.

The Portugal squad travelled to Marseille the day before the contest, with a number of the squad's senior players posing for a photograph while en route to the southern French city.

Lewandowski hasn't lit up Euro 2016 and will need to regain his form from qualifying if Poland are to have any chance of getting past Portugal on Thursday.

Cristiano Ronaldo will not be the only superstar on show on Thursday night in Marseille. But Poland's manager, players and supporters are relying on Robert Lewandowski finding his shooting boots.

Portugal will need Cristiano Ronaldo firing on all cylinders on Thursday night if they are to overcome a stubborn Polish side in Marseille.

So it was ITV who were first out of the blocks for the quarter finals. Which meant that they didn’t get the Welsh game.

IAN LADYMAN AT STADE VELODROME: Cristiano Ronaldo has been here before and made the wrong call. Portugal exited Euro 2012 on penalties to Spain without their great talisman taking a kick.

Poland’s star player Robert Lewandowski was recovering on Friday from a ‘brutal’ end to his side’s run at Euro 2016. The striker's goal was not enough to see his side overcome Portugal.

French side AS Monaco have signed Polish defender Kamil Glik on a four-year deal from Italian side Torino, the clubs confirmed on Monday.

Everton and Napoli target Arkadiusz Milik will not be allowed to leave in this window, say his club Ajax. The Polish star is understood have agreed to stay at least until January.

Sportsmail revealed Leicester's bid at the weekend and the Premier League champions have now settled on a fee with Cracovia for an initial £5.4million, rising to £7.4m based on performance.

Poland's World Cup qualifier with Romania had to be suspended when a firecracker exploded at the feet of striker Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich man needed medical attention.

DOMINIC KING IN MUNICH: What if? Robert Lewandowski has no cause for regret in his stunning career but, from time to time, he asks himself that question and starts to wonder.

European football's governing body announced the three countries had all 'expressed interest' in staging June 2019's semi-finals and final of the inaugural competition.

Bayern Munich striker appeared hard at work on Monday as Adam Nawalka's squad trained ahead the tournament. Poland have two friendlies still to play against Chile and Lithuania.

The 2014 World Cup Golden Boot was won by Colombia's James Rodriguez, who set the tournament alight with six goals and goal of the tournament before earning a transfer to Real Madrid.

The 2018 World Cup is just days away, but for the first time in decades Australians won't be able to watch all the games live on free-to-air TV.

Optus won the rights to stream all 64 games of the World Cup to Australian audiences via their online and mobile services. But thousands of viewers were left frustrated by a troubling error message.

Sportsmail's CHRIS SUTTON gives his verdict ahead of an action-packed day of World Cup football as he tips tournament hosts Russia to beat Egypt with or without star man Mo Salah.

Find out who made the cut for every team taking part in Russia. We've listed the 23-man squads for each of the 32 nations going for glory at the greatest tournament on the planet.

After the incredible drama of Wednesday's World Cup matches, Groups G and H could well provide a similar level of excitement. Here, Sportsmail runs through all the permutations...

Germany's home clash with France is the most mouth-watering tie on Thursday, as the reigning World Cup winners look to continue their dominance with victory over the 2014 champions.

Portsmouth striker Ronan Curtis has been drafted into the Republic of Ireland squad for Tuesday night's friendly in Poland. The 22-year-old has been added to a depleted party for the game in Wroclaw.

CRAIG HOPE IN WROCLAW: Poland manage to salvage a draw in their friendly with the Republic of Ireland after Mateusz Klich cancelled out Aiden O'Brien's debut goal on Tuesday evening.

Roberto Mancini very much put his Italy players through their paces as they look to claim their first victory in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday night against Poland.

Sportsmail provides you with everything you need to know for UEFA Nations League including how it works, groups, fixtures and how it impacts EURO 2020 play-off system.

Wojciech Szczesny will be tasked with keeping the ball out of the net when Poland face the Czech Republic. But he has been showing his team-mates how it is done at the other end of the pitch.

Portugal boss Fernando Santos felt his side deserved the point in Italy which earned them qualification for the Nations League finals.

James Forrest's hat-trick inspired Scotland to a come-from-behind win over Israel that secured promotion in the Nations League on Tuesday night.

Arkadiusz Milik's second half penalty cancelled out Andre Silva's opening goal for Portugal as the Nations League finalists were held in Guimaraes on Tuesday night.

England secured their place in the Nations League semi-finals but they will now have a close eye on the Euro 2020 qualification draw as they look to keep their momentum going.

Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi has been handed his first England Under-21 call-up as he continues his rise. The forward has been included for the friendlies against Poland and Germany.

Aidy Boothroyd's side are in preparation mode for the European Championship finals as they trained at St George's Park on Wednesday ahead of friendlies with Poland and Germany.

Poland forward Krzysztof Piatek continued his prolific season by scoring 10 minutes after coming off the bench to secure a 1-0 win away to Austria in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier.

Provincial club Piast Gliwice are two games away from 'doing a Leicester City' and winning the league for the first time in their history. And anchoring their midfield is 29-year-old Tom Hateley,

SPAIN UNDER-21S 5-0 POLAND UNDER-21S: Pablo Fornals was among the scorers as Spain secured their place in the semi-finals of the Under-21 Euros with a 5-0 win against Poland.