France's players celebrate at the end of the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between France and Poland, at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)FIFA World Cup 2022 France vs Poland Highlights: Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France beat Poland 3-1 in the third Round of 16 fixture at the 2022 World Cup. The 23-year-old became only the first player in World Cup history to score eight goals before turning 24. Olivier Giroud also registered in the record books after overtaking Thierry Henry as France men’s all time record goal scorer with his strike in the first half.
Robert Lewandowski put one back in for Poland from the penalty spot but it was too late for the Group C runner ups to make a possible comeback in the game. France will now face the winner of the England-Senegal match in the quarter final.
Lineups: France: Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud; Poland: Szczesny, Bereszynski, Glik, Kiwior, Cash, Sebastian Szymanski, Krychowiak, Frankowski, Zielinski, Kaminski, Lewandowski.
FOLLOW FRA vs POL highlights below
France concede a penalty late in the added time following a VAR check for a possible handball infringement in the box. Robert Lewandowski steps up to take it but puts it straight to Hugo Lloris but wait a minute, it will have to be retaken as the French defenders have rushed in too early.
RETAKE: Lewandowski scores this time. His second goal at these World Cup finals but a goal that'll barely affect the result of the game. And that does it. The referee blows his final whistle. France through to the quarter finals.
FRA 3-1 POL
Five minutes of added time on the board but the game as a contest is already over.
FRA 3-0 POL
Another majestic finish from Kylian Mbappe, who cuts in from the left inside the Polish box and gets the ball past Szczesny for the second time on the night. WHAT A PLAYER!
FRA 3-0 POL
Matty Cash is shown his second yellow of the World Cup for a late lunging tackle.
FRA 2-0 POL
Jan Bednarek and Kamil Grosicki come on for Jakub Kiwior and Przemyslaw Frankowski.
FRA 2-0 POL
Sriram Veera: Mbappe has been celebrating differently this world cup. The old one: arms clasped around the chest, tucked in the arm-pit, is gone. These days, he goes down on his knee, right hand behind the back, and head is bowed: the left thumb is pressed on the nose, and the little finger is lifted up. Like a pied piper or as many speculated, the French artist Rodin’s famous statue of the ‘Thinker’.
But it’s his little brother Ethan’s celebrations. L’Equipe, the newspaper, had quoted Mbappe as saying that Ethan scored a goal against him on the playstation and did that as an impromptu celebration. “In fact, it was not me who found it, it was my little brother,” Mbappe told the newspaper. His good friend at PSG, the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi too once joined him in the celebrations.
FRA 2-0 POL
Poland seemed to be doing good just before that Mbappe goal, looking for that equaliser by pushing numbers forwards but that hit on the counter and finish seems to have dropped a lot of shoulders.
Meanwhile, France are still looking for another. Hernandez latches on to a loose ball in the box after Mbappe is dispossessed, but he shoots wide of the target on his right foot.
FRA 2-0 POL
Marcus Thuram and Kingsley Coman replace Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele.
FRA 2-0 POL
Mbappe scores from the left with a superb right footed finish. His eighth goal at the World Cup finals, fourth in the 2022 edition.
A superb finish that to beat Wojciech Szczesny, who's been one of the goalkeepers of the tournament. Takes his time, has a look at the goal and then blasts it over to the top of a diving Szczesny, who doesn't get anything on the ball.
FRA 2-0 POL
Krystian Bielik and Nicola Zalewski replace Jakub Kaminski and Grzegorz Krychowiak.
FRA 1-0 POL
Jules Kounde on the right feeds the ball in from Olivier Giroud, who tries to steer the cross in from a narrow angle only to hit the side netting with a first glance attempt.
FRA 1-0 POL
Arkadiusz Milik comes on for Sebastian Szyma?ski in the central midfield.
FRA 1-0 POL
Griezmann with the ball on the right, rushes in towards the Polish goal. Feeds Dembele, who puts the ball in for Mbappe, who loses out on the edge of the box as he gathers Dembele's cutback. France are looking to kill the game off here, but just need a clinical edge in front of goal.
FRA 1-0 POL
Once again in the game, Mbappe has space to break on the left and he offloads to Rabiot on the overlap. Bereszynski has to react in the middle to clear the cutback from the midfielder, and to Poland's luck, he does.
FRA 1-0 POL
Giroud sends Dembele down the right flank with a sublime touch, but the winger fails to match the effort of his team-mate with a heavy touch of his own that allows Szczesny to smother the ball. It is in the air around the Al Thumama, France cannot, will not settle with just the 1-0 lead.
FRA 1-0 POL
The players return back on field after the break. No changes for the teams and Poland get us underway for the second 45 plus added time.
FRA 1-0 POL
FRA 1-0 POL
Olivier Giroud strikes to give his side the lead and becomes the top goal scorer for France, overtaking Thierry Henry to do so.
Just on the cusp of halftime, just when it looked like Poland would finish the half on a positive note, the world champions strike.
FRA 1-0 POL
Just as Jules Kounde set up for a throw in on the right, the linesman asked him to take off the gold chain. An odd stoppage during a World Cup Round of 16 match but off goes the chain and on goes the match.
FRA 0-0 POL
Mihir Vasavda: France right back Jules Kounde is playing with a shiny gold chain around his neck. He might be in violation of Rule 4 of IFAB regulations, which state: 'All items of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, leather bands, rubber bands, etc.) are forbidden and must be removed. Using tape to cover jewellery is not permitted.'
Screengrab: Livescore
Poland have the numbers forward in the French half. Piotr Zieli?ski sets the ball after a diagonal run to the right for Matty Cash, who goes for it on the first touch but it is nowhere near the goal or the path of any Polish players to be a threat for Hugo Lloris.
FRA 0-0 POL
Aurélien Tchouaméni is booked following a foul just outside the French box. Poland have a set piece in position of some promise and on steps Robert Lewandowski. His attempt however, runs straight into the French wall.
FRA 0-0 POL
Mihir Vasavda: Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik joked yesterday his side “will need scooters” to stop Mbappe. Well, they certainly don't have that but Poland have been double-teaming on the right to stop Mbappe's monstrous runs, with right back Cash doing most of the hard work. Two men, however, constantly shadowing the biggest threat, from Poland's point of view.
FRA 0-0 POL
Ousmane Dembele is teed up in the Poland box on the right after a good horizontal run from the French. The Barcelona winger crosses the ball in for Olivier Giroud at the far post, who is unable to guide the ball into the goal and takes it out for a goal kick.
FRA 0-0 POL
A good bit of spell for the Polish in the French territory as Lewandowski receives a cutback in the area and lays it off to Frankowsk, whose shot is blocked and forward march France. Kylian Mbappe with one of his instant acceleration sprints off the left is double downed by the Polish backline. He believes foul play. The referee isn't convinved however and on we go with the game and the firm belief that France will return back to the Polish half anytime now.
FRA 0-0 POL
Kounde has the ball and the vision to the Poland goal, so the Barcelona player decides to pull the trigger but Poland's best player at this tournament so far has a clear sight of the ball all the way and makes a comfortable stop.
FRA 0-0 POL
Tchouameni floats a ball forward for Giroud and Griezmann. The latter tries a clever flick towards goal with a backheel, forcing Szczesny to push it away from goal before Glik scrambles away the rebound.
Meanwhile, at the other end, with the lack of support in Polish shirts, Robert Lewandowski decides to have a go at the goal from distance. Best not talk about it, shall we?
FRA 0-0 POL
Poland give the ball away and Dembele surges towards the edge of the box, cutting inside from the right flank. A left footed shot follows, but there isn't much power in it to beat Szczesny.
FRA 0-0 POL
Mihir Vasavda: Poland are lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation but the first 15 minutes have shown it really doesn't matter what their shape is. For all practical purposes, they are playing a 9-0-1 with only Lewandowski making a genuine effort to venture into France's half. Four corners, half-a-dozen shots and a lion's share of possession - it's been all France in the opening exchanges
FRA 0-0 POL
Space opens up for Tchouameni to rifle a strike at goal from distance. The Polish number one has to get down quickly to his right to push his low effort behind for a corner.
FRA 0-0 POL
Kylian Mbappe finds space down the left to run into. The PSG forward and France's top scorer at the World Cup so far crosses the ball in from the left. Too far out for Giroud and collected by Dembele. Who tries to go for a shot from a narrow angle from the right but his attempt is deflected off a Polish player for a third French corner.
FRA 0-0 POL
Lloris makes a mistake from Varane backpass, but the other centre half, Upamecano is there to scramble it away. The Poles push down the right through Cash, but he floats his cross straight into Lloris' hands. Vibes of the other night when Matt Ryan conceded the second against Argentina after being pressed down by Rodrigo de Paul.
FRA 0-0 POL
Another set piece for France in the opening minutes, who look to be making most of their attacking line. On this occasion though, their centre half, Rafael Varane rises highest to attack Griezmann's delivery in from the right flank, but he directs his header wide of the right post.
FRA 0-0 POL
Griezmann goes down under a challenge from Bereszynski on the right flank. France get an early chance to whip a cross into the box.
Olivier Giroud gets the ball rolling. France kicking from left to right, immediately making the move towards the Polish half.
FRA 0-0 POL
The two sets of players walk out in the middle to a rousing reception at the Al Thumama Stadium. France dressed in their usual colors, navy blue shirt and white shorts. Poland in their white shirts and red shorts. Only the second meeting between these two at the finals and even though they look favorites in this contest, as it stands, France are yet to beat Poland at the World Cup.
This is the second meeting between France and Poland at the World Cup and first since their third-place play-off match in the 1982 tournament — a 3-2 win for Poland.
France to dress up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation whereas Poland look more likely to go with a 4-1-4-1 set up.
Screengrab: FIFA
France coach Didier Deschamps fielded the same team who beat Denmark in the group phase for the defending champions' World Cup last-16 clash against Poland on Sunday as keeper Hugo Lloris celebrates a record 142nd cap.
France: Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud.
Poland: Szczesny, Bereszynski, Glik, Kiwior, Cash, Sebastian Szymanski, Krychowiak, Frankowski, Zielinski, Kaminski, Lewandowski.
Referring to shock exits by Germany, Belgium and Denmark, Wenger, speaking during a technical analysis of the group stages by world governing body FIFA, said it was notable the teams that focused on football and started well, like Brazil, France and England, had easier passage to the last 16.
Read more - Teams focused on World Cup, not politics, had easier passage to last 16: Wenger
It’s a huge day for goalkeepers with big reputations when defending champion France faces Poland in the round of 16 at the World Cup on Sunday. Hugo Lloris will tie a national team record for Les Bleus four years after lifting the trophy as captain. Opposite number Wojciech Szczesny is a penalty-saving, wise-cracking No. 1 who seems to be enjoying the tournament more than any other player.
Everything that Messi did on an electrifying Saturday night, would not need high definition camera shots to be stored in the mind of his admirers. The kind of goal he scored against Australia, he has scored a hundred times in his career. Ball cushioned onto his left from the right side of the box. Messi takes a gorgeous first touch, it’s almost always gorgeous. Then he lashes a shot to the bottom corner of the far post. How many times have we seen this! How many we would see this again! But repetitiveness does not make him humdrum; it only enhances his charm and genius, each replay revealing a hidden, unnoticed aspect of his. (READ MORE)
Brazil forward Neymar will train later on Sunday and is set to play for the five-times champions in their World Cup last-16 match against South Korea after recovering from an ankle injury, coach Tite said. Neymar suffered the injury in Brazil’s opening 2-0 win over Serbia, which ruled him out of their 1-0 win over Switzerland and the shock defeat by Cameroon, one of a series of injury problems within the squad. (READ MORE)
If he plays against Poland this weekend, Griezmann will make his 71st successive appearance for France, an all-time national record.
France and Poland have crossed swords several times over the years, and Les Bleus have a clear statistical advantage (eight wins to three, with five draws). However, the only time that the two European sides met at a major international tournament, in the match for third place at Spain 1982, it was Antoni Piechniczek’s charges who emerged victorious (3-2), scoring just before and after half-time to claim a place on the podium.
France: Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, Raphael Varane, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot, Antoine Griezmann; Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe
Poland: Wojciech Szczesny; Bartosz Bereszynski, Jakub Kiwior, Kamil Glik, Matty Cash; Przemyslaw Frankowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Krystian Bielik, Piotr Zielinski; Arkadiusz Milik, Robert Lewandowski
Poland, the obstacle in question, booked their place in the Round of 16 for the first time since 1986 by the tightest of margins, despite losing their Group C clash with Argentina 2-0 on Wednesday. Robert Lewandowski and Co will certainly not be viewed as favourites against Les Bleus, but they will likely draw inspiration from Tunisia, who beat France 1-0 in their final group match.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the last 16 match betwen France and Poland from the Al Thumama Stadium on Sunday. Defending champion France will be looking to add another World Cup trophy to its cabinet while the scarappy Poland will be hoping to pull a Switzerlanad ala Euro 2016 and cause a major upset. A muthwatering clash awaits. Who walks away the victor? Stay tuned for live updates.