The defending champions France defeated Poland in Match 51 with ease to advance to the FIFA 2022 World Cup quarterfinals in yet another thrilling match. Hugo Lloris’s team defeated Poland easily 3-1 in the third Round of 16 game, with goals from Giroud and Mbappe, with the latter scoring twice to advance his team to the quarterfinals. After captain Lewandoski scored his team’s lone goal via a penalty in the final minute of extra time, Poland only managed to score one goal in the game.
After kicking off play, France promptly switched into attack mode, crossing the ball all over the field in search of the game’s first goal. On the other hand, Poland was doing well to stop a quick French goal. Until just before halftime, Poland did put up a strong defense to deny France several opportunities. However, Olivier Giroud scored the game’s opening goal in the 44th minute after Kylian Mbappe sent a pinpoint pass through the Polish defense line. Wojciech Szczesny attempted to stop the powerful strike by Giroud by diving, but he was unable to do so.
In all honesty, France pushed forward with their offensive nonstop from the start, scoring the game’s first goal right before the half. Giroud also became France’s all-time leading scorer with the goal, surpassing Thierry Henry, who had 51 goals to his credit. France eventually won the first half, leading Poland 1-0 at the break.
As the game approached the 70-minute mark, France had a few wasted opportunities. Kylian Mbappe, though, finally scored in the 74th minute when he launched a rocket shot into the top corner from just inside the penalty area. Mbappe was able to score again in the 91st minute by again pumping the ball into the top-left corner of the goal as the game entered the extra 10 minutes. Szczesny was able to touch it with his glove, but he was unable to prevent the ball from touching. He currently holds the record for most goals scored in FIFA 2022 and scored his eighth World Cup goal for France!
A small tragedy occurred when France gave up a penalty to Poland 9 minutes into extra time due to a handball infringement in the area that was confirmed after a VAR assessment, with the game nearly done and France guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals. Robert Lewandowski took over, but he fired the ball right at Hugo Lloris. France made a lucky stop, but the drama wasn’t done yet since the penalty had to be retaken because the French defenders had rush in too quickly, as the linesmen had pointed out. Lewandowski attempts again, this time succeeding in beating Lloris to net his second goal of the World Cup championships. The goal didn’t significantly change the outcome of the game, though, as the referee blew the final whistle to end play.
The final score was a resounding triple-goal victory for France, as even a goal from a Lewandowski penalty in the dying seconds could not prevent Poland from being eliminated from the competition. The winner of the England-Senegal game will now play France in the quarterfinal. Stay tuned to H3bet as we bring you every detail of these high-octane events, scandals, news, and updates from the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022!