France – Poland: Mbappé sends Les Bleus to the quarterfinals

FRANCE – POLAND: MBAPPÉ SENDS THE BLUES TO THE QUARTER

Carried by a Kylian Mbappé who keeps on rising and by the 52nd goal of Olivier Giroud, the French team makes Poland fall (3-1). It validates its place for the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2022.

AN ENCOURAGING FIRST PERIOD

Didier Deschamps’ men quickly got into the thick of things. From the first half, we could see Ousmane Dembélé on his feet, multiplying the breakthroughs in the opponent’s defense. He was the first to worry the Polish keeper in the 11th minute of play. Tchouaméni also imitated him 4 minutes later, without success. Les Bleus will not stop trying in this first half, like Olivier Giroud, too short to take the cross sent by Dembélé on the right side in the 29th minute. This lack of realism could have cost the French dearly at the end of the second half. The Poles had a double chance, first saved by Hugo Lloris and then by Raphaël Varane in a second time. At the very end of the second half (45′), Mbappé sends a good ball in the small perimeter to Olivier Giroud. The French striker stares at the goalkeeper and crosses his shot which ends in the net. With this achievement, he reached the 52-goal mark for the national team and became the top scorer in the history of Les Bleus, ahead of a certain Thierry Henry.

A FIERY SECOND HALF

At the end of the second half, the Blues kept their ascendancy over the Poles. They multiplied the breakthroughs in a Polish camp less serene than in the first half. In the 75th minute, after a good recovery work of Griezmann, Giroud recovers and passes to Dembélé. From the right side, the Barcelona man finds Mbappé with a low pass on the opposite side. The French cracker doesn’t hesitate. He stares down Szczęsny and unleashes a powerful shot from his right that finishes in the back of the net. The score is increased to 2-0 for the Blues.

At the end of the match (89′), Mbappé receives the ball in the left side area. It infiltrates and of a gesture of genius, triggers sumptuous curled shot which comes to clean the lucarne right of Szczęsny). The 23 year old Frenchman scored twice and became the top scorer. Lewandowski converted a late penalty awarded after Dayot Upamecano’s handball in the penalty area. At the end of this match, the qualification to the quarter-finals is assured for Les Bleus, who will face the winner of the match between England and Senegal.