The 2022 World Cup playoffs in Qatar have already gained some momentum, and the day before we learned about the first pair of teams participating in the quarterfinals. French and Polish footballers could only dream of getting into the unconditionally honorable campaign of the national teams of Holland and Argentina, which opened the next day of the international championship with their match on the field of the El Tumama stadium in Doha.
The current world champions confirmed their reputation and their ambitions to defend their title with a victory in the D quartet, who needed just two opening meetings against Australia and Denmark to win, and Les Bleus could play the last round of the group stage against Tunisia with a reserve team, and in the results they became co-authors of a small sensation, losing with a minimum score (0:1).
At the same time, Cheslav Mikhnevich’s team could only hope for a quiet life in Group C, in which they managed to beat only reactive Saudi Arabia, while the red and white played a difficult goalless draw with Mexico, only to lose in the final round to the Argentines. However, in the end, the holiday was exactly on the streets of the neighboring country, but then they looked at the next opponent, and it became a little uncomfortable.
The Poles put up a decent resistance to a more prominent opponent in the first half of the reporting meeting, although, in general, the assumptions that Mikhnevich’s team would play the second number from the depth of defense were justified. However, unlike the match against Argentina, it wasn’t just a defense purely defensively. The “red and whites” also managed to put pressure on the opponent’s half of the field, even managing to come close to scoring a goal several times.
It goes without saying that if France had the vast majority of their chances before the break exclusively in the form of shots from outside the box, while Poland had a crazy chance just before the break, when only Lloris and Varane on the line goal managed to save the team from significant problems at the time of the punches of Zelinsky and Kaminsky.
However, France’s quantitative advantage in all other indicators of the game finally ended with a goal scored, which the rivals could not reach in the first half. In the 44th minute Mbappé played on the left wing of Giroud’s free kick, who immediately moved the ball under the far post. Many times before the ball was sent to Szczesna’s possessions in this way, but only in this case the goalkeeper and defenders could not cope with the transfer to the aggravation. The results weren’t pleasant, to say the least.
From the beginning of the second half, the French began to pressure the opponents so powerfully that one could only praise the Poles for having lasted at least one segment of playing time without a second goal conceded. It happened a little later again, at 75 minutes, but before his mad shot from the left wing of the penalty area into the nearest corner, Kylian Mbappé missed a few more fine moments.
After that, there was no longer a fight as such: Deschamps’ team confidently led the match to the final whistle, during which the third ball managed to put the efforts of Mbappe himself, who this time hit in the opposite direction of goal Szczesny. But this match didn’t stop at the next effective action of the youngest in the history of the scorer of eight or more goals at the World Cup.
At the end of stoppage time, a service from Grosicki from the left wing found Upamecano’s hand, for which the refereeing team awarded a penalty shortly after, looking at the moment to the VAR. Lewandowski approached the mark and, with an eccentric run-up on his first attempt, did not break through Lloris with a shot in the center of the goal. However, one of the Frenchmen entered the penalty area early, so the shot had to be re-taken and this time the shot into the bottom left corner was effective. Giroud + Mbappé + Lewandowski, final score 3:1 – all, as French President Emmanuel Macron said before the match. And how did he know?
Thus, the French team won a place in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from this pair of teams, while the international championship ended for Poland.
World Championship. 1/8 final.
France – Poland – 3:1
Giroud 44′, Mbappe 75′, 90′ – Lewandowski 90+9 (pen)
Chuameni, 31 – Bereshinski, 47, Cash, 88
France: Lloris – T. Hernandez, Upamecano, Varane, Kunde (Disasi, 90+2) – Rabiot, Chuameni (Fofana, 66) – Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembele (Comane, 76) – Giroud (Thuram, 76).
Poland: Szczesny – Beresinski, Kiver (Bednarek, ), Glik, Cash – Krychowiak (Belik, 61) – Frankovski (Grosicki, 86), S. Szymanski (Milik, 65), Zelinski, Kaminski (Zalevski, 61) – Lewandowski.
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (Venezuela).
Stage: “Al Tumama” (Doha, Qatar).
Shots (on goal): 17 (8) – 12 (3)
Corner kick: 7 – 1
Offside: 2 – 1.
FRANCE – POLAND. ONLINE TRANSMISSION OF THE MATCH
Temperature: 26°C
