Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time men’s record goalscorer as his opener and Kylian Mbappe’s second-half double gave the World Cup holders a 3-1 win over Poland to move them into the quarter-finals.
Giroud scored his 52nd France goal to surpass Thierry Henry’s record with a neat first-half finish (44) to help fire Les Bleus to a last-16 victory in Doha and set up a quarter-final against either England or Senegal.
The 36-year-old, who had equalled Henry’s tally of 51 after scoring twice in their opening Group D win over Australia, broke the record on his 117th appearance for France.
Mbappe then doubled France’s lead in the 74th minute before arrowing in a superb second in stoppage time to make it five goals in Qatar – two more than any other player at the tournament.
Robert Lewandowski scored a 99th-minute re-taken penalty to add a late consolation for Poland to deny Hugo Lloris a clean sheet on his record-equalling 142nd appearance for France.
Mbappe has scored nine World Cup goals in his career at the age of 23
How France reached the quarter-finals
France dominated the opening stages at the Al Thumama Stadium and Giroud should have given them a 29th-minute lead as he slid wide at the back post from Ousmane Dembele’s cross.
Poland, who were in the knockout stages for the first time since 1986, came close to a shock opener as Lloris denied Piotr Zielinski before Jakub Kaminski’s rebound was cleared off the line by Raphael Varane.
Hugo Lloris saved from Piotr Zielinski to deny Poland an opener
France took the lead in the 44th minute as Mbappe slid in Giroud, who took one touch before finishing left-footed past Wojciech Szczesny for his third goal of the tournament as he became France record men’s goalscorer.
Mbappe then gave France breathing space midway through the second half as he fired past Szczesny to make it 2-0 before adding a sublime third in the top corner to deny Poland a first World Cup quarter-final appearance since 1982.
Mbappe scored twice in the win over Poland
They were the 23-year-old’s fourth and fifth goals in Qatar as Mbappe became the first player to score nine World Cup goals before his 24th birthday, having netted as many as Argentina’s 35-year-old Lionel Messi.
A handball by France defender Dayot Upamecano allowed Lewandowski to score his second World Cup goal from the spot with the last kick of the game.
The Barcelona striker’s first penalty was saved by Lloris but the French captain did not have his feet on the line as Lewandowski scored at the second attempt.
Opta stats: France keep up impressive last-16 record
- France have progressed from all six matches they’ve played in the round of 16 at the World Cup, including in each of the last three editions in a row (2014, 2018 and 2022).
- Poland lost consecutive World Cup games by multiple goals for the first time since 2002 (0-2 v Korea Republic and 0-4 v Portugal).
- France have only lost one of their seven games in the World Cup knockout stages under Didier Deschamps (including finals), with that defeat coming in 2014 to eventual winners Germany (0-1 in the quarter-final). They have won each of their last five games in the World Cup knockout stage since that defeat.
- France’s Olivier Giroud (36y 65d) became the oldest player to score in the knockout stages of the World Cup (excl. own goals) since Roger Milla in 1990 against Colombia (38y 34d).
- Kylian Mbappé has scored five goals in four games at the 2022 World Cup, already surpassing his goal tally from his previous appearance in the tournament in 2018 (four goals in seven appearances).
