FRANCE WAS CREATING HISTORY WHILE DEFEATING POLAND 3-1

FRANCE WAS CREATING HISTORY WHILE DEFEATING POLAND 3-1

By Rashmi Goel

With a professional performance, the World Champions beat Poland 3-1 in a match that wasn't going to be possible without them. There was never a moment when France needed to leave second gear in order to defeat a passive Poland, but in fact, they did. It was a largely turgid display over the course of the 90 minutes from Robert Lewandowski's team, and the Polish striker could not find any moments of inspiration. Olivier Giroud's goal will be remembered for making history in this game as very little else will be remembered from the game. As soon as the first whistle was blown, Kylian Mbappe set the tone of the match. There were two occasions when the PSG player left Matty Cash in the dust as he won two games against him. Both of Mbappe’s crosses were cleared by the goalkeeper, but it was a sign that the World Champions had a real chance in this game to win. A narrow miss from Ousmane Dembele's cross passed just in front of Olivier Giroud and he was also allowed to run into that left channel unchecked.

Poland showed more ambition in their 2-0 loss to Argentina with all on the line than they did in their 2-0 defeat to Spain. Two last-ditch blocks prevented attempts on the rebound after Piotr Zielinski forced a fine reaction save from Hugo Lloris. Kaminski also delivered a gasp-inducing shot into the side netting. Yet Giroud's goal broke Thierry Henry's all-time scorer record for France, making this half the most memorable of all. In an elegant through-ball from Mbappe, the AC Milan striker slotted the ball into the net to give France the lead. It was the first time in the history of the French national team that a player had scored 52 goals. In the second half, Wojciech Szczesny punched Antoine Griezmann's free-kick away from the goal. After that, Dembele's lightning pace almost allowed him to sneak in behind the Polish defense. Didier Deschamps' squad started the second half well.

An overhead kick by Giroud nearly extended his newly-minted record. In response to Raphael Varane's alleged foul on the keeper, the referee halted play. This was a sad waste of Giroud's bravado and skill. In the end, France would get their second shot, and the source of the shot did not surprise anyone watching. Mbappe once again delivered magnificent performances when his team needed them. After a counterattack, Mbappe received the ball wide on the left at his feet. In order to double France's lead, he put his foot through it with heavyweight power. In the present situation, Poland was simply going through the motions. While they displayed a fair amount of ambition in the first half, their performance in the second half was characterized by the same blase attitude that they displayed in their final group game against Argentina. They missed this opportunity because they didn't grasp that this could be the last tournament in which they have a quality number nine for a very long time.

Mbappe was a player who demonstrated a constant sense of ambition on the field. With an injury-time second, the PSG striker cemented his position as one of this tournament's premier talents. Yet another highlight reel performance for the 23-year-old was capped by this performance. A marginal handball combined with VAR resulted in Poland being awarded a late penalty. It was Lewandowski's second penalty of the tournament, and he missed it once again. In spite of this, a retake was ordered due to Lloris' premature departure from his line of play.

In the second attempt, Lewandowski was successful in finding the goal. Even though he would have preferred his World Cup to end differently, he did receive some consolation. As a result of this victory, France has only further enhanced its credentials as a potential winner. Mbappe has now surpassed Pele for the most goals scored at a World Cup and you would be foolish to bet against any team with him. However, the quality of their work goes much deeper than that. It seems likely that they will go much, much further in Qatar due to the presence of a number of players who are familiar with the experience of winning this particular honor.