France defeat Poland to reach quarter-finals

Defending champion France beat Poland to reach quarter-finals in Qatar World Cup.

With five goals and two assists, Kylian Mbappe has been directly involved in each of France’s last seven goals at the World Cup.

1. Giroud becomes France’s all-time record goalscorer with opener
2. Ex-Arsenal & Chelsea forward Giroud now on 52 international goals
3. Mbappe adds two more goals with fine strikes into the top corner
4. Lewandowski scores stoppage-time penalty consolation for Poland
5. France will face England or Senegal, who play at 19:00 GMT
6. England is set to recall Saka for the last-16 game, with Rashford dropping to the bench.

Full-Time Score France 3 – 1 Poland.

Live : France 3 – 1 Poland.

• Mbappé (44′minutes), 
• Dembélé (74′minutes), 
• Thuram (90’+1minutes).

Only Just Fontaine – who netted a record 13 goals all in 1958 – has scored more World Cup goals for France than Kylian Mbappe’s nine.

Thierry Henry is next on six goals.

France vs Poland match preview : Score prediction, Livescore, Head to Head, team news and lineups can be accessed here on Ejes Gist Sports.

Who: France vs Poland

Where: Al Thumama Stadium

France vs Poland Kick off Time: December 4, 4:00 pm WAT NIGERIA TIME

The defending champion,  France will enter its World Cup quarterfinal match against Poland as the overwhelming favorite, but Poland has the ability to derail Les Bleus’ title defence at Al Thunama Stadium.

World Cup 2022 Round of 16 fixtures, Date and Time (Full List )

France qualified for the knockout round with a game to spare after two stylish performances against Australia and Denmark, but lost to Tunisia in the final group match after resting several key players.

See England vs Senegal: Score prediction, Livescore, Head to Head, team news, lineups

Poland advanced despite suffering a 2-0 loss to Argentina in their final group match, thanks to their resolute defence and Robert Lewandowski’s finishing touch.

 

France will enter the game with the majority of its top players having refueled, but against Poland, patience may be more important than energy.

 

France vs Poland DStv Channels.

Super Sports 2, 3, 4 and 5  on channels 203, 204, 205 and  206.

“They possess seasoned players. “Lewandowski is unquestionably one of the best strikers in the world,” said France’s coach Didier Deschamps. They should not be underestimated.

 

 

 

Deschamps possesses the means to break open a game when France faces opponents with a deep, compact defense, such as Poland.

 

 

 

Kylian Mbappe, who is chasing records in Qatar after scoring seven World Cup goals before turning 24 years old, may find it difficult to use his devastating speed against a crowded defense, but Ousmane Dembele could be France’s primary weapon.

 

The Poles will need to keep an eye on Olivier Giroud in the penalty area as well as the forward’s relentless dribbling, which he uses to surge one way before feinting the other.

After finishing second in their group behind Argentina, Poland have advanced to the knockout stage for the first time in 36 years.

 

Two goals have been conceded by Poland’s defence throughout the tournament. This is largely due to the heroics of their goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who has been their best player thus far. This World Cup, he is the only goalkeeper to have saved penalty kicks, including one by Lionel Messi.

 

However, despite Poland’s defensive tenacity, they have been far from prolific in front of goal, scoring only twice in this World Cup, both against Saudi Arabia. However, Poland’s coach, Czeslaw Michniewicz, bristled at criticism of his team’s conservative approach.

 

“Those who did not play defence at the World Cup are at home watching television.” Now that we’re out of the group stage, our plans will change,” Michniewicz said prior to Sunday’s match against France.

 

“We weren’t ready to go home before playing Argentina, and we’re not ready to go home now either,” he added.

 

In the quarterfinals, the winner of Sunday’s match will face either England or Senegal.

France vs Poland  Score prediction

Sports Mole says France 2-0 Poland.

Sutton’s prediction: France 3-1 Poland

Ejes Gist Sports say France 1:0 Poland .

France vs Poland Form 

• France World Cup form:
  WWL
• France form (all competitions):
  LWLWWL
• Poland World Cup form:
  DWL
• Poland form (all competitions):
  LWWDWL

France vs Poland Lineup.

See France possible starting lineup:

Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud

Poland possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; Cash, Glik, Kiwior, Bereszynski; Frankowski, Bielik, Krychowiak, Zielinski; Lewandowski, Milik.

France vs Poland team news

Didier Deschamps, who became the first manager to lead his team to the knockout rounds of the 2022 World Cup, was not afraid to make substitutions for Les Bleus’ final Group D match against Tunisia, but a second-string team could not remain unbeaten in Qatar.

With the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann all kept in reserve, Tunisia took advantage and drew first blood through Wahbi Khazri in the 58th minute, although Griezmann thought that he had levelled the scores right at the death.

However, VAR intervened after the final whistle to rule the Atletico Madrid player’s goal out for offside, prompting France to reportedly file a complaint with FIFA. However, Les Bleus maintained their first-placed standing, keeping Australia at bay by virtue of their superior goal differential.

The 1998 and 2018 champions have qualified for three consecutive knockout rounds for the first time in World Cup history. They are also the first defending champions to advance past the group stage since Brazil in 2006.

In addition, Les Bleus have advanced from each of their last five last-16 matches at the World Cup, and despite missing out on a seventh consecutive victory on football’s grandest stage, Deschamps’ side need no additional motivation to defeat Poland.

 

Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny joked that he lost a bet with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi regarding the awarding of a penalty in his team’s loss to the South American champions, but the Juventus player cannot put a price on stopping a penalty kick from the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez scored for La Albiceleste in the second half, nullifying Szczesny’s efforts.

Despite accumulating just four points from their three Group C matches, Poland’s goal difference of 0 allowed them to edge Mexico (-1) for second place and secure a spot in the round of 16 for the first time since the 1986 tournament, which was held in Mexico.

However, Michniewicz’s squad did not bring their best shooting boots to Qatar, as they have recorded just five shots on target in the 2022 World Cup thus far – three of which came in their matchday two victory over Saudi Arabia – despite keeping four consecutive clean sheets before Mac Allister breached their defence.

It has been 40 years since France last lost to Poland, who eliminated them from the 1982 World Cup before defeating them 4-0 in a friendly later that year, but Les Bleus have since compiled a seven-game unbeaten streak against the Group C runners-up, most recently winning 1-0 in a 2011 friendly.

After goalkeeper Alphonse Areola recovered from back pain to make the bench against Tunisia, France manager Didier Deschamps should have a fully-fit squad for Sunday’s last-16 match – Theo Hernandez’s ankle injury sustained in training on Friday is not expected to prevent him from playing.

Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembele, and Olivier Giroud – who needs one more goal to break Thierry Henry’s men’s record for the national team – are all expected to return for the champions after Deschamps gave minutes to a number of fringe players against Tunisia.

Last time out, neither Jordan Veretout nor Youssouf Fofana, the latter of whom protested with the referee as Khazri sprinted past him to score, played particularly well, so Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot will return to the midfield’s base.

As for Poland, Michniewicz has his entire squad available for Sunday’s knockout match, although no less than six players would miss any potential quarterfinal match if cautioned.

The Poland manager, who substituted Przemyslaw Frankowski and Karol Swiderski at halftime against Argentina, should not consider suspension concerns, but Frankowski should not be in danger of losing his position.

However, Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piatek are both poised to replace Swiderski in the final third alongside Robert Lewandowski.

France vs Poland Head-to-head record

1 match

• France:  0 wins,  Draws 0
• Poland : 1 win

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