LIVE: France Takes on Poland in World Cup Round of 16
Kylian Mbappé and Robert Lewandowski face off in this last-16 clash between European foes as Les Bleus look to defend their title. Follow along here.
France’s will have to go through Poland in the round of 16 if it wants to become the first team since Brazil in 1958 and ’62 to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
By advancing to the round of 16, Les Bleus broke a curse of three straight reigning world champions that failed to make it out of the group stage at the following World Cup. After wins against Australia and Denmark, France played a heavily rotated second team in a loss to Tunisia in the final group match and still won the group.
Kylian Mbappé comes into the match tied atop the golden boot standings with three goals. He’ll be lined up across another prolific forward in Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, who scored the World Cup goal of his career in Poland’s win over Saudi Arabia. While Poland lost to Argentina on the final group day, its win over Saudi Arabia and draw with Mexico was enough to see it through to the knockouts for the first time since 1986.
The winner of this match will face either England or Senegal in the quarterfinals.
France came out of the gates with plenty of energy with Antoine Griezmann sending in dangerous crosses on a free kick and corner kick in the first five minutes alone. But Poland was able to withstand the early push.
In the 10th minute, France pushed forward once again. Mbappé rushed down the left wing and sent a cross all the way to the far post where Ousmane Dembélé stood, but Dembélé’s chance was blocked just in the knick of time.
Two minutes later, France returned with another chance. This time Aurélien Tchouaméni sent a hard-hit shot from distance that forced Wojciech Szczęsny into a save.
Lewandowski gave Poland its first chance in the 21st minute when he dribbled down the center of the pitch and rifled a shot toward goal that just went wide of the post.
Follow along here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
Here are the lineups for both sides:
Full World Cup Squads
France
GOALKEEPERS: Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Rennes)
DEFENDERS: Axel Disasi (Monaco), Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool), Jules Koundé (Barcelona), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Raphaël Varane (Manchester United)
MIDFIELDERS: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Mattéo Guendouzi (Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid), Jordan Veretout (Marseille)
FORWARDS: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
COACH: Didier Deschamps
Poland
GOALKEEPERS: Kamil Grabara (Copenhagen), Łukasz Skorupski (Bologna), Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus)
DEFENDERS: Jan Bednarek (Aston Villa), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Matty Cash (Aston Villa), Kamil Glik (Benevento), Robert Gumny (Augsburg), Artur Jędrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw), Jakub Kiwior (Spezia), Mateusz Wieteska (Clermont), Nicola Zalewski (Roma)
MIDFIELDERS: Krystian Bielik (Birmingham City), Przemysław Frankowski (Lens), Kamil Grosicki (Pogon), Jakub Kaminski (Wolfsburg), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Al-Shabab), Michal Skoras (Lech Poznan), Damian Szymański (AEK Athens), Sebastian Szymański (Feyenoord), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), Szymon Żurkowski (Fiorentina)
FORWARDS: Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Arkadiusz Milik (Juventus), Krzysztof Piątek (Salernitana), Karol Świderski (Charlotte FC)
COACH: Czesław Michniewicz