Kylian Mbappe set up a record-breaking goal for Olivier Giroud and then netted twice himself as defending champions France eased past Poland in their Round of 16 clash. Giroud’s goal, on the stroke of half time, sent the Milan forward into the history books as France’s all-time top goal scorer, overtaking the legendary Thierry Henry.
Having assisted Giroud’s goal, Mbappe then showed his own class with two fantastic strikes. The first was a powerful hit into the top corner from the edge of the box, while the second was a lovely curled finish. Poland keeper Wojciech Szczesny has been in outstanding form this World Cup, but he was powerless to stop both Mbappe goals.
The Poles were left ruing a big 38th minute triple chance opportunity when the score was 0-0- Zielinski first shot straight at Lloris from point blank range, with Theo Hernandez the making a follow-up block and Raphael Varane clearing off his own line.
Poland did manage a late consolation from the spot through Robert Lewandowski. The Barca star’s first attempt was saved by French keeper Hugo Lloris, but the retaken penalty (after Lloris had come off his line too fast for the original) found its way into the back of the net.
