France sent Poland packing with three goals, but it was the one just before the break that changed proceedings.
Before then the French struggled more than expected, though it mattered little in the end as Kylian Mbappe, who already has five goals in the World Cup, looked unstoppable after the restart.
All in all France didn’t play well, but they have Kylian. It’s a similar plan to the one in 2018 when they won.
Robert Lewandowski added a consolation at the end with a penalty after the first was stopped, which brought out a smile.
He even joked with Mbappe at the end of the match in what was symbolic of a changing of the guard.
How come it wasn’t Poland’s goal
Everyone expected Poland to be overrun on Sunday, and yet they went into the break a goal down when they didn’t deserve to be.
In the 38th minute they had a clear chance, and Zielinski is going to wonder for a long time how he didn’t score that goal when he had the whole net to aim at and shot straight at Lloris.
His rebound came to nothing, and a third shot from Kaminski was blocked by Varane on the line. In that first half Lewandowski‘s team did more than the rest of their World Cup.
Mbappe’s 35km/h and the duel with Cash
In a race in the first half, the video scoreboard showed 35km/h. It was after a duel of sprinters on the left flank with Cash.
Poland’s right-back kept pace with Mbappe, though it isn’t clear which player hit the mark. Mbappe wasn’t very inspired, or so it seemed, until he was unleashed and scored two.
With Giroud off, the PSG striker became the No.9 and abandoned the left flank that he likes so much. From there he scored the second, even though he drifted in and out of play a bit too much on Sunday.
It hasn’t been Lewandowski’s World Cup
Poland finally put in a good effort before saying goodbye to the World Cup after a poor group stage.
The Barcelona striker scored a goal against Saudi Arabia and added a late second against France, which shows how important it is for a classic No.9 that lives to score to be surrounded by a team that generates play.
It must be said, the goal against France came after a poorly taken first penalty. In the first half against France he wasn’t part of Poland’s best chances and he went looking for the game too much.
France can’t play better?
Deschamps may have to change his system of play. The result and progression through to the quarter-finals doesn’t make up for some of the shortcomings of the team that were seen in the first half against Poland. Lewandowski‘s team was better and Les Bleus weren’t comfortable.
It was only thanks to Giroud‘s goal just before the break that things changed. Poland were more open in the second half, and they were able to take the game to France. However, we’ll see what happens when France go up against an opponent that can cause them problems.
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