GERMANY and Poland ground out the first goalless draw of the Euro 2016 finals at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis last night – but both countries remain in strong positions to qualify for the last 16.

They are now level on four points in Group C with one match in their section remaining – Germany play Northern Ireland in Paris on Tuesday while Poland play Ukraine in Marseille.

With Ukraine having lost both of their games, to Germany and Northern Ireland, they could, depending on what happens in the other sections, go through as one of the four best third-placed teams.

The draw means that the Ukraine, who had earlier been defeated by Northern Ireland, join Albania in being eliminated from the competition.

Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik wasted the best chance of the evening seconds after the start of the second half when he headed a Kamil Grosicki cross wide from just four yards out.

Poland, with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski leading the line, had the better chances to win the game, but seemed content to play for a draw.

Lewandowski, who was the leading scorer in qualifying with 13 goals, failed to hit the target again, but Poland manager Adam Nawalka stressed he was unconcerned about his star player’s inability to net so far.

“The performance of Robert Lewandowski is always vital to our game plan,” he said. “He hasn't scored against Northern Ireland or Germany tonight, but he's doing a lot of work.

“He is always thinking about the team and has played a huge role dragging defenders out of place and creating room for team-mates. He is in optimum form.”

Nawalka said: “The players put a lot of heart into it. The only thing I'm not completely happy about is our failure to score, but 0-0 was a fair scoreline.

“We were controlling things well, even at the end. There were times when Germany took the initiative, but we gave them that consciously, to allow us space to hit them on the counter attack.

“I'm very happy with the team, in particular their discipline and tactical awareness. It all went exactly to plan.”

Lewandowski himself insisted Poland, who defeated the World Cup winners in qualifying, had done enough to win the match outright and book a place in the last 16 of the competition. "It was a good result, but we deserved to score at least one goal," he said.

It was the first time since a game against Italy in 1988 that Germany hadn't managed a shot on target in the first half of a European Championship finals match. They produced only three shots at target during the course of the 90 minutes.

It was also the first time in 15 finals matches that Germany had failed to net. The last time they drew a blank was in the 2010 World Cup final against Spain.

It was, meanwhile, the first time that Poland had ever failed to get a shot on target in a game at a major tournament finals.