
December 4, 2022 At 10:31 am EST
Mbappe’s speed…
After Mbappe’s final run, the stadium’s big screen flashed his ‘top speed’ as he dribbled the ball past a defender and left him dead. It had a speed of 35 kilometers per hour. Boy fast.

Daniel Taylor·
Football writer
December 4, 2022 at 10:30 a.m EST
28. Big chance for Giroud
Big chance for France. Przemysław Frankowski’s errant pass was flicked on by Griezmann, who was playing for Dembele inside the box.
Dembele slid the ball into the six-yard box and the onrushing Giroud failed to make enough contact to slot into the empty net at the back post. Perhaps the Barcelona winger’s pass was too heavy

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:26 a.m EST
23. Intent on Polish ownership
Poland began to settle into this game after Lewandowski’s strike and certainly looked more positive than at other stages of the tournament. Griezmann is almost certainly somewhere between Rabiot and Chouameny as a central midfielder.
For Poland, who own the game, Matty Cash’s position is good, with Mbappe deep and always goal-side. His attacking instincts seemed to be suppressed this afternoon.

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:22 a.m EST
21. France dominate possession but Lewandowski flies
Mbappe is having success on the left side of Poland, dragging the white shirts towards him, but France can’t cross Poland on their passing map. So far, there have been very few passes within 18 yards.
But at the other end, the ball breaks to Lewandowski, who instinctively shoots from outside the box. Lloris dives to his left but it’s wide of the goal. Good effort.

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:16 a.m EST
French flexibility
The team’s formation is 4-2-3-1 for France, but when they attack, Chouameny is certainly playing as a lone player and Rabiot is almost as tall as Griezmann. We’ve seen it do well in other games, and Krychowiak will need the help of Zielinski and Szymanski to keep Poland’s back line from finding space.

Luke Bosher·
Junior news editor
December 4, 2022 At 10:16 a.m EST
Mbappe tests Cash early…
Cache is trying to compact and compact the space Mbappe has when he receives the ball, but will need more support…

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:14 am EST
13. Tchouaméni takes a long shot
Aurélien Tchouaméni received the ball from outside the area, but Wojciech Szczecny’s shot drilled to the right was met by the Polish keeper who turned the post for a corner. The resulting cross is nothing.

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:13 a.m EST
11. Mbappe has already achieved success
For France, the first sign of danger for Poland was that their talisman Mbappe could be found on a regular basis. Poland are allowing the ball into France’s midfield and the back five has looked like a six at times with Piotr Zielinski falling, but Mbappe is already dropping down the left as his touch snaps show….

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 at 10:10 a.m EST
8. Poland is definitely more aggressive…
After their last outing against Argentina, the Poles are already showing signs of more ambition to reach the last 16…
A united press on Lloris rushed Upekano into his own box…

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:08 am EST
Empty seats at Al Thumama Stadium…
According to Adam Crafton, our correspondent at the game, many seats are still empty in the stadium… Maybe it’s the traffic?

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:04 am EST
3. Varan raised his head
France started well here. Griezmann’s corner kick was headed wide by Varane. France are in a 4-2-3-1 formation and Poland are trying to press high when Hugo Lloris has the ball.

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 At 10:03 a.m EST
1. France win an early penalty in a dangerous area
A soft foul on Griezmann saw the Atlético Madrid man dust himself off to whip in a curling ball from the right, but he overpowered and headed wide.
Poland, meanwhile, are in a 5-2-2-1 formation, with Aston Villa’s Matty Cash playing directly against Mbappe, with the Qatar crowd roaring every time he gets on the ball.

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 at 10:00 am EST
0. Beginning
Heavy favorites France roll the ball through Giroud

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 at 9:58 am EST
The national anthem is over
Hello. Both teams took to the field and their respective national anthems were played. Mbappe vs Lewandowski? Or bigger than that?
Mbappe and Hernández have created an overload on the left throughout the tournament, and Argentina did so last time against Poland.
Poland will hope that this is a concern that Mbappe’s challenge has allayed in time.

Jacob Tanswell
December 4, 2022 at 9:55 am EST
Empty seats
A few minutes after the game starts, there are many empty seats.
The stadium is one of the hardest to get to – it’s a 35-minute walk or bus ride from the nearest metro station – but it’s nowhere near FIFA’s 96% capacity.

Laura Williamson·
EPL Senior Editor
December 4, 2022 at 9:49 am EST
It’s almost time
Venezuelan referee Jesus Valenzuela may be the man with the whistle, but…

Kate Burlaga·
Staff Editor, News
December 4, 2022 at 9:43 am EST
Big game stats
Here’s some pre-match footage, courtesy of Opta:
- This is the second World Cup match between France and Poland, and the first since the 1982 third-place match, which Poland won 3-2.
- France are unbeaten in their last seven games against Poland in all competitions (W3 D4), last losing in a friendly in August 1982 (0-4).
- Since the introduction of the round of 16 in 1986, France has appeared at this stage five times, progressing in 1986, 1998, 2006, 2014 and 2018.
- It will be Poland’s first appearance in the knockout stages of the World Cup since they lost 4-0 to Brazil in the round of 16 in 1986.
- Having avoided defeat in their previous two matches, Poland face the world champions for the third time.

Kate Burlaga·
Staff Editor, News
December 4, 2022 at 9:35 am EST
Until the countdown begins
Warm-ups, stretches, drills, huddles are underway – less than half an hour to go…

Kate Burlaga·
Staff Editor, News
December 4, 2022 at 9:30 am EST
Walking and waiting for Lewandowski
Walking around the field while everyone else is rushing around and staying calm in the midst of chaos has been a hallmark of Lionel Messi’s career.
Using FIFA data, you can see that Messi is still right there when averaging the distance traveled over the three games.
But Poland’s Robert Lewandowski leads the way with an average of 4,832 meters in three games, and he is on high alert and feels the opportunity to step into life.
Unfortunately for Lewandowski, the player has not been able to impose himself on the game in the same way as Messi, but his ability to sniff out nothing, as he did against Saudi Arabia, cannot be underestimated.
Didier Deschamps is certainly cautious.
“He didn’t get a lot of the ball in the group stage, but he can be very dangerous with just one chance,” the French coach said.

Mark Carey·
Football writer
GO ON
World Cup group stage analysis: Japan likes line-break passes, Lewandowski walks more than Messi
Robert Lewandowski received the longest ball (27) in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup and only completed 69 passes in total open play – 39% of which were long plays to him. pic.twitter.com/1DHkxDS9Py
– Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) December 3, 2022
December 4, 2022 at 9:25 am EST
The creator is Griezmann
Of course, Antoine Griezmann is also cool.
No player has created more chances than France’s 11 goals in this tournament, and his 2.34 expected assists are the best in Qatar, according to stats gurus at Opta.
The Atletico Madrid striker is the only player to have created at least 10 chances for France at this World Cup and Russia 2018.

Kate Burlaga·
Staff Editor, News