France and England completely dominated their matches and secured their quarter final spots with respective scores of 3-1 and 3-0. They will be going against each other on December 11.
France dominated possession in the first half of their match versus Poland but missed several opportunities. In the 28th minute, Olivier Giroud came closest but the connection from Ousmane Dembele just missed its mark. Piotr Zielinski saw a chance for Poland in the 38th minute but Hugo Lloris was quick to deflect it.
Just as the first half was about to end 0-0, Kylian Mbappe threaded the ball through the Polish defence. With some nimble footwork from Olivier Giroud, he scored the opener for France.
This goal landed Giroud in the record books as France’s top scorer of all time with 52 goals, surpassing Thierry Henry.
In the second half of the game, France turned up the heat in their attack. There was an attempt by Poland in the 67th minute but it fell short. By the 79th minute, Kylian Mbappe scored the second goal for France.
That was Kylian Mbappe’s eighth goal at a World Cup finals, and his fourth of the 2022 edition. In addition to this, the player now has the same number of World Cup tournament goals as Diego Maradona and Rivaldo.
In the 89th minute, Mbappe secures the team’s win by scoring the third goal. However, in the 97th minute, Poland got a consolation penalty though it did not make much difference in the end.
In the England and Senegal match, it was the first time that the two have gone against each other in a World Cup match. Senegal was quick to dominate possession at kickoff but England was also quick in taking over control of the ball. It was an intense match as the two fought for the opener.
Boulaye Dia had a chance for Senegal in the 31st minute which was parried by Jordan Pickford. With the first half was nearing its end, Jordan Henderson gave England to the lead with a shot that landed at the bottom corner of the goal.
Senegal fought hard to score an equalizer but England doubled their lead at the end of the first half when Harry Kane lashed the ball past the keeper’s right.
England closed off the game with a third goal with a clever dink over the goalkeeper by Bukayo Saka in the 61st minute. Senegal couldn’t come back and will leave the World Cup with their heads high.
