FIFA World Cup 2022: Defending champions France cruised into the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup with two goals from Kylian Mbappe and one from Olivier Giroud as they beat Poland 3-1 in their Round of 16 match on Sunday.
Giroud scored in the 44th and Mbappe scored in the 74th and 90plus1 minutes. Consolation goal for Poland was scored by his talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski (90th and 9th minute) from the penalty spot.
Immediately after the first half, star forward Olivier Giroud became the top goalscorer for France when he scored in the 44th minute, surpassing Thierry Henry (51 goals in 123 matches). The 36-year-old Girod has scored 52 goals in 117 matches. He equalized for Henry in their 4–1 win against Australia in the opening match of Group D. Mbappe passed the ball inside the box to Giroud, who fired in a spectacular left-footed shot to put France ahead 1-0. Coach Didier Deschamps was seen celebrating it.
Poland created several chances during the match but the team was unfortunate that these were not fruitful. France, who topped Group D, dominated the first 15 minutes of the match, making three good attempts on goal, one of which was Aurélien Choumeni’s shot towards goal in the 13th minute, but it was saved by Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny. Made a good defense while doing it.
France had their best chance in the 27th minute when Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele delivered a cross to Giroud but he could not find the net. Poland’s players were engaged in every effort to stop Mbappe. Chowmani was also shown a yellow card during this time for fouling Frankowski and Poland got a free kick which went in vain. France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a record 142nd appearance for the team to equal Lilian Thuram’s most caps. He made a fine save from Poland’s Piotr Jielinski in the 38th minute.
In the second half, Poland’s Batosz Bereszinski was shown a yellow card for fouling Ousmane Dembele and France were awarded a free kick. The Polish goalkeeper made a good save, diving for Antoine Griezmann’s powerful shot from the free kick. Mbappe got a chance during this, but his shot went wide. Giroud had a chance to double the lead in the 66th minute when he tried to guide Conde’s cross near the post but it went wide of the net. The Polish players were in the French half and then in a counter-attack the French players changed the direction of the ball. Giroud passed to Dembele who headed it towards Mbappe, the star fired a powerful right-footed shot into the Polish box and Szczęsny could do nothing. Mbappe became the first player under the age of 24 to score eight goals in the World Cup.
Argentina beat Australia 2-1 to reach quarter-finals of FIFA World Cup
Messi scored his first goal of the knockout stage of the World Cup, playing his 1000th career match. However, Argentina’s road to victory against Australia was not as smooth as many had expected. Goalkeeper Amy Martínez played a key role in Argentina’s victory, preventing the match from going into extra time with a brilliant save in the final seconds of the match.
Messi put Argentina ahead in the 35th minute before Julián Alvarez made it 2-0 in the 57th minute. Australia regained hope in the 77th minute of the match when Enzo Fernandez scored an own goal. Argentina will now face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Trailing 2-0 down, Australia had any hope of a comeback in the final 20 minutes when Craig Goodwin’s shot went in after hitting Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez in the 77th minute.
Australia then stepped up the attack. The team had a chance to score in the last minute when Gereng Kuol got the ball and he only had to beat the goalkeeper but his powerful shot was stopped by Martinez. The Argentine team has made a good comeback after the upset defeat against Saudi Arabia in their first match and the team has won three matches in a row. Messi, playing his fifth and probably the last World Cup, has 789 goals to his name.
Messi, who has been voted the world’s best footballer of the year seven times, has his eyes set on winning football’s biggest tournament on 18 December. Thousands of Argentine spectators were present at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium to watch the match against Australia and were cheering for the team. Messi praised the supporters, saying, ‘The whole of Argentina wants to come here but it is not possible. This connection, solidarity that we have is wonderful.
