FIFA World Cup 2022, Round of 16: Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe put France in quarter-finals
France won the game with a scoreline of 3-1 on Sunday.
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Dec 4, 2022 10:41 pm
FIFA World Cup 2022, Round of 16: Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe put France in quarter-finals (Image Source: Twitter)
The FIFA World Cup 2022 kicked off on November 20 between Qatar and Ecuador and since then, the tournament has been witnessing continuous action for more than 2 weeks. As things stand, the Round of 16 stage started on December 3, Saturday and France faced off against Poland on Sunday in the knockouts.
It was a great first half for both teams as neither of them scored a goal in the first 40 minutes, making it a tough phase in the game. The Les Bleus kept creating opportunities, although they failed to capitalize on them to take to lead in a crucial encounter.
Poland, on the other hand, managed to keep up with France’s wrath and on the back of their stupendous defence, the Polish side prevented the latter from scoring a goal and eventually, they failed to score the lead as well. However, while many predicted a goalless first half, Olivier Giroud scored the lead for France in the 44th minute and the first half ended with a scoreline of 1-0.
France seal quarter-final berth in FIFA World Cup 2022
As far as the second half is concerned, the teams started with high morale, although it was France who kept dominating the game in the initial minutes. The Polish camp, on the other hand, were thriving to make a comeback and match the lead in the crucial encounter. It looked like the game could go either way at the 50-minute mark with the scoreline remaining at 1-0, unchanged, despite a stupendous bicycle kick effort from Giroud.
Kylian Mbappe, the star player, doubled the lead in the 74th minute, after toiling it hard on the green surface for almost 20 minutes into the second half. Eventually, it shifted the momentum in France’s favour and many opined that it was the end of Poland in the ongoing multinational tournament. Notably, it was the Les Bleus who won the match with a scoreline of 3-1 on the back of a brace from Mbappe in the 90+1st minute and made a cut to the quarter-finals of the tournament, with Poland getting a penalty right at the stroke of the final whistle.
