With a dominant second half display, France defeated Poland 3-1 on Sunday to go through the World Cup quarter finals.
France led 1-0 at half time: not undeserved, but it doesn’t tell the story of a polished Polish performance that totally caught Le Blue unprepared.
Expectations had been that the Poles would load their defence and rely on the odd breakaway.
Instead, they did plenty of attacking and until the wily Olivier Giroud struck in the 44th minute, Poland had looked more likely to score as they threw men forward.
Lewandowski had tried his luck from distance early on and there was a triple chance in the 37th when Zielinski shot straight at Hugo Lloris and the rebound was smashed into Verane who was defending on the French goal line.
There was a bit more pinball in the box until the panic stations abated.
But back to Giroud, who had missed a golden – possibly offside – chance as he failed to make contact when sliding to meet a Dembele cross.
Just before the break, the habitual goal poacher cleverly read the play and anticipated Mbappe’s through ball to collect and find the far past out of reach of Szczesny (1-0).
For the record – literally – Giroud is now France’s highest ever goal scorer with 52 for his nation.
The 1-0 half time lead wasn’t undeserved but it was also not too convincing, as Poland were still very much in a game that was far from over.
But the second stanza would see a massive shift France’s way as they came out with a renewed attacking mindset.
A vicious in-swinging corner from Griezmann was punched away by Szczesny as the French exerted constant pressure.
Glik did head over the bar in the 71st minute but that simply heralded the start of the Kylian Mbappe show as the ace marksman bagged a brace.
The first stemmed from a lightning counter attack, Griezmann slipping a cross into the box and Mbappe powering the ball into the top right corner (2-0)
France seemed content with a two-goal cushion as they began showboating and playing little triangles all over the park.
But Mbappe wasn’t done yet, and he had saved his best for last – quick feet, a glance at the keeper’s position, short back-lift and a special delivery that ripped into the roof of the net like a guided missile (3-0).
That’s his fourth at Qatar 2022 and he leads the race for the golden boot.
There was a meaningless consolation goal for Poland during time added on as penalty was given for an undeliberate hand ball. Missed pathetically by Lewandowski but he was given a second chance as Lloris had moved forward early.
This time, no mistake (3-1).
So, the defending champs are through and looking good.
