Rampant Poland hammer Estonia in EURO 2024 playoff semis

Poland take 5-1 win in Warsaw to visit Wales in final on Tuesday; winning nation in Cardiff to reach EURO 2024

By Can Erozden

Poland beat a 10-man Estonia 5-1 in a Thursday UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying playoff semifinal to book their place at next week's decider.

The Polish side was in control after Przemyslaw Frankowski, Piotr Zielinski and Jakub Piotrowski scored in Warsaw.

Estonian defender Karol Mets put the ball into his own net in the 74th minute before Poland attacking midfielder Sebastian Szymanski scored the fifth goal for his nation.

Estonian midfielder Martin Vetkal scored a consolation goal for the visitors to finalize the results.

Estonia were down to 10 men in the first half as defender Maksim Paskotsi was sent off after a foul. Poland were on a 1-0 lead when Paskotsi was leaving the pitch. He was previously booked.

Poland will visit Wales in a tough Path A final on Tuesday as the winning nation in Cardiff will qualify for the EURO 2024.

Meanwhile, Wales beat Finland 4-1 in Cardiff on Thursday to advance to the playoff final. David Brooks, Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson and Daniel James were the scorers for the Welsh team. Teemu Pukki scored for Finland.

Either Wales or Poland will enter EURO 2024 Group D to join already-qualified the Netherlands, Austria and France.

Following Thursday's semifinals, which were played on a single leg knockout format, six teams confirmed playoff finals places.

Poland, Wales, Georgia, Greece, Ukraine and Iceland reached the playoff finals, but only three tickets are remaining for this summer's EURO 2024 to be held in Germany.

Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Israel crashed out of the qualifying playoffs on Thursday.

Each winning nation in Path A, B and C will be in the EURO 2024 groups, joining 21 already-qualified teams including hosts Germany.

The qualifying finals will be played on Tuesday, March 26.

The EURO 2024 will start with the Germany vs. Scotland match on June 14 at Munich's Allianz Arena.

Ten German cities – Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Dortmund, Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen, Stuttgart and Dusseldorf – will host the football contest that will see 51 games.

The final will be held at Berlin's Olympiastadion on July 14.

- Results of EURO 2024 qualifying playoff semifinals:

Wales - Finland: 4-1 (Path A)

Poland - Estonia: 5-1 (Path A)

Bosnia-Herzegovina - Ukraine: 1-2 (Path B)

Israel - Iceland: 1-4 (Path B)

Georgia - Luxembourg: 2-0 (Path C)

Greece - Kazakhstan: 5-0 (Path C)

- Tuesday's fixtures (finals):

Wales - Poland (Path A final)

Ukraine - Iceland (Path B final)

Georgia - Greece (Path C final)