France vs. Poland: Defending Champs Are Ready to Dig In

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:32 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:32 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

74′ GOAL! Mbappé makes it 2-0 for France.

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:28 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:28 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

64′ Poland has (perhaps belatedly, or maybe just in time) brought on a second striker, Arkadiusz Milik, to help Lewandowski chase the tying goal it needs right now. From “Dances With Wolves” to “Field of Dreams” now: If you cross it, the goal may come.

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:18 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:18 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

57′ A brief delay here — and a little drama — as Szczesny charges out to clear a cross from Varane’s forehead and clears out both the Frenchman and a teammate in the process. It was an ugly collision, and the referee quickly blew his whistle, robbing us of the terrific bicycle kick goal Giroud would have scored off the falling clearance. Too bad (for him and for France) that play had already been blown dead.

Credit…Friedemann Vogel/EPA, via Shutterstock

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:15 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:15 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

56′ Mbappé makes a little something out of nothing: quick footwork at the top of the area, a fast shot into an inch of space. It almost works, too, but the shot, deflected in a way that sends Szczesny in the wrong direction, rolls wide.

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:08 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 11:08 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

46′ France opens the half on the front foot, and within a minute Bartosz Bereszynski has absolutely hauled down Dembélé on the right to avoid being beaten. The referee is quick with a yellow, and Griezmann whips in the free kick. It’s a good one, but misses Varane’s head by about an inch, and Szczesny — thankful for no deflection, which would have been a certain goal at that close range — punches clear.

Credit…Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:52 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:52 a.m. ET Olivier Giroud’s goal against Poland made him the France national team’s record scorer.Credit…Kirill Kudryavtsev/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A record-breaking goal by striker Olivier Giroud just before halftime has given France a 1-0 lead over Poland at Al Thumama, and left the French, the defending World Cup champions, 45 minutes from the quarterfinals.

Giroud’s goal, a slick finish off a wonderfully threaded lead pass from Kylian Mbappé, was his 52nd for France, breaking a tie with Thierry Henry for first place on the national team’s career list.

The goal capped a half that was more even than might have been expected: Poland had several excellent chances and an even share of the possession. Late in the half, it nearly opened the scoring, failing only when a frantic French defense cleared three shots off the goal line in quick succession.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:48 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:48 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

HALFTIME: France 1, Poland 0.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:46 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:46 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

Giroud’s goal was all about Mbappé’s pass. He saw Giroud with a defender on the wrong side of him and led him perfectly into the area for a one-time finish past Szczesny.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:47 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:47 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

Giroud doesn’t always get the respect of other strikers, but a look down that list shows him ahead of some very big names: Henry, Griezmann, Michel Platini, Karim Benzema.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:44 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:44 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

44′ GOAL!! Giroud, and France leads, 1-0.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:42 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:42 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

42′ Short break as Koundé, who has been wearing a gold chain for the entire half, is finally told to remove it. It feels like a high school referee might have noticed that before now.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:42 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:42 a.m. ET

James Wagner

Reporting from Qatar

France has not been particularly sharp and Poland is playing better than it previously has. Both teams have missed multiple close-range opportunities and have dangerously teetered on the edge of falling behind. It has been a tighter first half than expected.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:40 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:40 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

38′ Once, twice, three times France is forced to save balls off its goal line. Quite a frantic few seconds for Poland, and for France, but every shot seemed to be right at a blue (or in Lloris’s case, orange) shirt and is either punched, kicked or headed clear. France is very lucky to be at 0-0 after these last few minutes. It needs to get back in control before it makes a mistake it really regrets.

Credit…Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:38 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:38 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

36′ Matty Cash gets a surprise: a ball laying free at the top right corner of France’s penalty area, just waiting to be hit. He sprints up and hits it. But his aim is soooo bad that the shot nearly goes out for a throw-in, which would have been funny for everyone but him.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:37 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:37 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

36′ Perhaps awakened by a stretch of Poland pressure and possession, France grabs the game by the neck, drags it back down to the other end and gets off a couple of threatening exchanges in quick succession. But Szczesny is there to break up both of them.

Credit…Elsa/Getty Images

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:35 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:35 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

32′ Curious decision by the Venezuelan referee there. Frankowski cuts inside like a child running out of control down a hill and collides with Tchouaméni on a 50-50 ball. The referee sees not just a foul but a mean one, and whips out a yellow for Tchouaméni. That sets up a free kick for Lewandowski that might be Poland’s best look since his last one, but he sends his attempt straight into the wall.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:31 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:31 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

29′ How have France not scored there? A terrible giveaway by Przemyslaw Frankowski sends Griezmann and Dembélé off on the sprint. The former plays a great ball ahead to Dembélé into the area, and Dembélé zips a cross to the center for Giroud. But it arrives a split-second too fast, Giroud’s contact is off, and the shot kicks around the left post.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:34 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:34 a.m. ET

James Wagner

Reporting from Qatar

Had he put the ball into the net, Giroud would have passed Henry for most goals in French national team history. They’re currently tied at 51.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:26 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:26 a.m. ET

James Wagner

Reporting from Qatar

22′ Good defense by Matty Cash, who was born in England to a Polish mother, to win a long ball to Mbappé on the left wing. Imagine being Cash, who plays his club soccer at Aston Villa, and having to chase Mbappé around most of the night.

Credit…Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:25 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:25 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

21′ Lewandowski, it’s fair to say, is not having much fun today. Stranded on the Polish frontier like Kevin Costner in “Dances With Wolves,” he gets an occasional sniff of the ball — only to have Varane or Dayot Upamecano or Aurélien Tchouaméni or some combination of all three, suddenly appear to close off his options. So when he gets a rare ball in space, as he just did at the top of the French penalty area, he’s going to shoot. Which he just did, whistling a ball past a diving Hugo Lloris that went juuuussssssst wide of the right post.

Credit…Javier Soriano/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:16 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:16 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

15′ It’s fair to say that one of these teams is directing this game and the other is merely taking part in it.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:16 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:16 a.m. ET

James Wagner

Reporting from Qatar

With his speed, Mbappé is already unnerving Poland’s defense. Whenever he has the ball, he’s pushing hard up field on the left wing. It feels like a matter of time before he breaks through, even though defending is Poland’s strength.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:10 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:10 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

10′ Another Griezmann corner; he delivers a nice one again, but it’ll take more than a nice delivery to beat Szczesny.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:09 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:09 a.m. ET

James Wagner

Reporting from Qatar

8′ Poland is already being more aggressive in attack than it was in its previous game, a 2-0 loss to Argentina. In that game, Poland took four shots, none on target, and Lewandowski struggled to get the ball. Poland has been criticized for being too conservative and too defensive in its approach, but Coach Czeslaw Michniewicz said this entering the game against France: “The ones that weren’t playing defensively at the World Cup are back home watching on TV. Now we’re out of the group phase, so we will change our plans.”

Credit…Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:05 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:05 a.m. ET

James Wagner

Reporting from Qatar

Four minutes into the game and Al Thumama Stadium feels half full. Neither country seems to have large fan contingents in Qatar, but the stands haven’t been filled with last-minute additions yet, as has happened in other games.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:04 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:04 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

3′ France wins the game’s first corner and Raphael Varane wins the first header from it. Good contact, poor aim, well wide.

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:02 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:02 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

1′ We’re off at Al Thumama. Maybe the rest of the crowd is still outside?

Credit…Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:00 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 10:00 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

Lewandowski offers mostly handshakes, but the current and former Barcelona players in the France line — including Ousmane Dembélé, Jules Koundé and Antoine Griezmann — merit hugs.

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:51 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:51 a.m. ET France’s forward Ousmane Dembélé Credit…Franck Fife/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

France has reverted to its first-choice team after making a host of changes in its last game, when progress to the knockouts had already been assured.

That means a front line of Kylian Mbappé (tied for the tournament scoring lead with three goals), Olivier Giroud (France’s co-leader for career goals) and Ousmane Dembélé (a strike partner of Poland’s Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona).

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ties Lilian Thuram for the most appearances for France with No. 142 today, and Giroud will look to break a tie with Thierry Henry at the top of France’s scoring list. Both currently have 51.

Poland reverts to a lone striker — Lewandowski — and bolsters its midfield by bringing in Jakub Kaminski and Sebastian Szymanski. That feels like a necessary move — and a wise one against France — but a plan and reality aren’t always the same thing.

France lineup:

Hugo Lloris (c); Jules Kounde, Raphaël Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Antoine Griezmann, Aurélien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembélé, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappé

Poland lineup:

Wojciech Szczesny, Matty Cash, Kamil Glik, Jakub Kiwior, Bartosz Bereszynski; Przemyslaw Frankowski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Sebastian Szymanski, Jakub Kaminski, Piotr Zielinski; Robert Lewandowski (c).

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Dec. 4, 2022, 9:50 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:50 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

France’s Didier Deschamps is well aware that things can go very wrong very quickly when Robert Lewandowski is wearing the other team’s shirt. “He didn’t get a lot of the ball in the group stage, but with just one chance he can be very dangerous,” Deschamps said.

Credit…Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:39 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:39 a.m. ET

Andrew Das

Reporting from Qatar

From the If Only It Were That Easy department: “The key to stopping Mbappé?” Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny joked Saturday. “It’s me.”

Credit…Ronald Wittek/EPA, via Shutterstock

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:36 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 9:36 a.m. ET France’s Kylian Mbappe during warm-ups ahead of the World Cup match with Poland.Credit…Javier Soriano/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In an interview this summer, Kylian Mbappé touched on a wide range of topics, but the 2022 World Cup was central among them.

He said he is focused on cementing his status as a national icon in France. He wants to win another World Cup. He wants to finally lift the Champions League trophy with Paris St.-Germain. He wants to supplant Messi and Messi’s longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo as world player of the year and can summon — unprompted — the number of Ballon d’Or trophies each has won, perhaps the best example of how much such accolades mean to him, even as he insists collective honors come first.

A championship run here in Qatar would certainly move him further along on that quest. You can read my entire interview with Mbappé here.

Dec. 4, 2022, 8:59 a.m. ET

Dec. 4, 2022, 8:59 a.m. ET Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann are two of France’s attacking threats for its game against Poland on Sunday.Credit…Stephane Mahe/Reuters France vs. Poland

How to watch: 10 a.m. Eastern. Fox, Telemundo, Peacock.

That France has the deepest pool of talent in world soccer is no secret, least of all to the other teams in Qatar. How deep? Nine other teams at the World Cup included French-born players on their final squad lists. Four of those teams advanced to the knockouts.

That wealth of homegrown talent has proved to be a valuable asset for Coach Didier Deschamps of France. He lost the World Cup-winning midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté in the weeks leading to the tournament and striker Karim Benzema, the newly crowned world player of the year, once the team arrived. Yet France has barely missed a beat.

Its performances have been, at times, dominant. Stunned by an Australia goal nine minutes into its opening game, France replied with four of its own (and could have had a couple more). When Kylian Mbappé gave the French a lead in their second match only to see Denmark promptly respond, he simply scored again, and France won again.

France is trying to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to defend the World Cup trophy, and there is, for now, no reason to doubt that it will make a deep run. None of that is assured, of course: If France can get past Poland today, potential roadblocks include England and Spain.

For now, the focus for France is Poland, and running out all the starters who sat in its final group game: a 1-0 defeat to Tunisia.

Poland emerged from the group stage on the strength of a scoreless tie against Mexico and a 2-0 victory against Saudi Arabia, but it would be a stretch to say the Poles inspired anyone with their play. Poland was shut out twice, despite fielding one of the world’s most prolific strikers in Robert Lewandowski, and only advanced on a tiebreaker.

If Lewandowski’s teammates can feed him a chance, or three, he could be a game changer against France. That first bit, though, will be the hard part.

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Nov. 30, 2022, 9:25 a.m. ET

Nov. 30, 2022, 9:25 a.m. ET Olivier Giroud celebrating after France’s victory over Denmark in the World Cup.Credit…Stu Forster/Getty Images

Olivier Giroud was never really one of those prospects who caught the eye. Through his teenage years, he was not on the hamster wheel that is reserved for the best and brightest, the kids who everyone is sure are going to make it. He never represented his country at the youth level. The under-16s passed him by. So did the under-17s. And the under-18s.

By the time Giroud was 23, he had established himself as a mildly prolific goal scorer in the French second division, first for Grenoble and then for Tours, small clubs with close horizons. There is no shame in that, of course: You have to be exceptional, after all, merely to be a decent professional athlete. But 23 is not young, not in soccer terms. Giroud’s chance seemed to have passed him by. It had not.

In France’s opening game of this tournament, Giroud scored twice. It took his tally of national team goals to 51 (he has made 116 appearances for his country, a remarkable total given the wealth of talent pressing for inclusion). That was as many as Thierry Henry, the kid who was always going to be a superstar, scored for France. Giroud now needs one more goal to be the most prolific goal scorer in the history of the French national team.

He is 36 now. He left Arsenal, his club for many years, for Chelsea, and then for A.C. Milan. He helped that club end its decade-long wait for a top-flight Italian title last season. He may yet end his career as a two-time World Cup winner. It’s not bad for a late bloomer. It is almost enough to make you wonder whether soccer might, sometimes, be a little too quick to judge.

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Nov. 22, 2022, 5:42 a.m. ET

Nov. 22, 2022, 5:42 a.m. ET

Novice fans don’t understand it. Longtime fans claim to understand it, but then openly disagree about it. Referees and their assistants are trained to spot it but often have to turn to replays to make sure they’ve got it right.

The actor Ryan Reynolds — who, remember, owns a soccer team — admits he doesn’t understand it but has sought cover by saying, “in fairness, nobody understands the offside rule.”

But now you will as we examine a classic example and some trickier scenarios below.

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