Despite benching captain Robert Lewandowski, Poland’s start was blistering as Piotr Zielinski fired them into a fourth-minute lead. Kacper Urbanski threaded an impossible ball through to the Inter Milan midfielder and he thumped it home into the bottom corner from 12 yards.
It was the opening salvo in an extraordinary 45 minutes of football as Croatia were raised from their slow start thanks to an incredible goal from Borna Sosa.
As the ball fell from the cold Warsaw night sky, the defender advanced and thumped an unstoppable volley beyond a helpless Marcin Bułka in the Polish goal.
Within 10 minutes of the equaliser, the visitors were comfortably ahead, as first Petar Sucic put his side in the lead after some smart link-up play with Martin Baturina, before Baturina turned goalscorer after a defensive howler from Pawel Dawidowicz.
Croatia looked in control of the game until Nicola Zalewski grabbed his side a lifeline, drilling a low shot into the back of the net on the stroke of half-time.
If the first half belonged to the goalscorers, then the second half was more of an affair for the goalkeepers, particularly Marcin Bulka.
The Nice goalkeeper denied both Luka Modric and Igor Matanovic from distance, before producing an incredible save from an Ante Budimir header from close range.
They proved to be vital interventions, as minutes later, Sebastian Szymanski fired home an equaliser from the edge of the box after being teed up by the newly introduced Lewandowski.
For all the glory gained by Bułka in the Poland goal, it would be despair for Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, as he was sent off for catching Lewandowski’s knee with his follow-through after rushing from his area to clear a long ball.
With the man advantage, Michal Probierz’s men enjoyed more possession and momentum in the final minutes but ultimately failed to find the goal that would have brought them level on points with their opponents in Group A1.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcin Bulka (Poland)
