Olivier Giroud moved ahead of Thierry Henry to become France’s all-time leading goalscorer, in a game which also witnessed a Kylian Mbappé brace, as Les Bleus sealed their progression to the FIFA World Cup (FWC) quarter finals with a 3-1 victory over Poland.
The tie looked to be on a knife edge heading into the break, but a moment of magic seconds before the referee’s whistle saw Les Bleus take the lead through Giroud’s record-breaking finish – his 52nd in 116 appearances for the French national team.
A neat set-up by Mbappé to deceive the Polish back line allowed his strike partner all the time in the world to take a touch in the box and calmly fire beyond his former Arsenal teammate Wojciech Szczęsny into the bottom right corner.
Mbappé added a third for good measure in the 90th minute, burying a powerful effort into the top right corner, this time from a similar position to his first goal, before Robert Lewandowski pulled one back from the penalty spot as the current holders bounded into their fourth quarter finals in their last five FWC appearances.
