Star striker Robert Lewandowski made his comeback from injury but could only watch as Austria took their first Euro 2024 win with a 3-1 victory against Poland in Berlin on Friday.
Krzysztof Piątek in the 30th minute cancelled out Gernot Trauner's ninth-minute opener, but Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautović from the penalty spot in the second-half secured an important win for the Austrians.
Lewandowski came off the bench after he missed the 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands with a thigh problem, but his highlight was a yellow card four minutes later.
Austria, who lost 1-0 to France in the opener, are now third in Group D, level with the French and the Netherlands, who face each other later. Poland are bottom of the table with zero points.
"We're still not through, we need at least one more point, four points are quite secure (to advance as third). But now we will see the result tonight. Maybe we can win the group, theoretically it's still possible," Austria coach Ralf Rangnick told a news conference.
Austria with early opener, but Poland react
Austria got to business early and took a deserved early lead after Philipp Mwene dribbled an opponent on the left to cross for Trauner to head home in a clinical finished.
Poland woke up after the goal and captain Piotr Zieliński made an effort in the 17th, but was blocked by Mwene. It looked like the ball hit his arm, but the referee moved on with the game.
Austria were denied a second in the 23rd when Wojciech Szczęsny made a huge save one-on-one to block Arnautović from close range but the Austrian was offside anyway.
But the next goal came from the Polish side. Jan Bednarek's effort was blocked by Trauner, but former Hertha Berlin player Piątek scored in his old home ground on the rebound.
Poland could have taken the lead shortly before the break, but a Zieliński free-kick was blocked by a big save from Patrick Pentz.
Lewandowski not enough as Austria seal win
Poland fans in the Olympic stadium celebrated like it was a goal when Lewandowski came off the bench to make his tournament debut.
But they were frustrated when Austria were ahead after Alexander Prass's pass from the left was dummied by Arnautović, leaving Baumgartner with the ball. Szczęsny was already down and couldn't do anything to stop the ball from falling into the goal.
The Austrians put the game to bed after Szczęsny fouled Marcelo Sabitzer in the area and were awarded a penalty converted by Arnautović in the 78th.
"Everyone is extremely happy. There was a lot of pressure on us, we felt it yesterday. We're really relieved but excited we have something in front of us," Man of the Match Baumgartner said.
Poland coach Michał Probierz said it was "a shame that we conceded" the 2-1, but didn't want to blame anyone in specific.
"We had to chase a goal and we're a bit open. I don't want to blame anyone. We win or lose together. I think we can play more aggressively against France," he said.
