Polish star Robert Lewandowski made his return during the second half of Friday's UEFA Euro 2024 Group D match against Austria on Friday.

The 35-year-old missed his team's tournament-opening loss to the Netherlands on Sunday because of an injured thigh muscle and was not in the starting lineup Friday. The two teams were deadlocked 1-1 when Lewandowski returned in the 60th minute. Poland went on to lose 3-1 after two second-half goals from Austria.

He suffered the injury in a pre-tournament game against Türkiye.

The Barcelona forward was back at training on Tuesday and Polish head coach Poland Michal Probierz was hopeful he would be able to return against Austria.

“Robert Lewandowski is coming back to strength, and he will hopefully play against Austria,” said Probierz. “He’s a very important player for us, and Pawel Dawidowicz hopefully also comes back, the defender. We are not giving up. We will do whatever we can to fight and qualify. I believe that we still have something to prove, and we will be stronger.”

He had three goals in three games for Poland at UEFA Euro 2020 and scored twice at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Poland will conclude group stage play on Tuesday against France.