After each matchday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sportsnet.ca’s World Cup Daily blog will recap the day’s events and look ahead to the next day’s slate of games.
Here’s what happened on Sunday in Qatar, in case you missed it…
THE RESULTS
France 3, Poland 1 in Doha: Match report || Match stats
England 3, Senegal 0 in Khor: Match report || Match stats
Quarter-finals matchup: England vs. France in Lusail (Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. ET)
Mbappé, Giroud send France through to quarterfinals
The old and young generations combined to devastating effect for France on Sunday, as Les Bleus moved one step closer to reaching their ambitious goal of becoming only the third men’s team to repeat as World Cup champions – and the first since Brazil won back-to-back trophies in 1958 and 1962.
A comprehensive 3-1 win over Poland was achieved thanks in large part to Olivier Giroud, who opened the scoring with his 52nd goal for the French men’s side, overtaking Thierry Henry to become the top goal scorer in the team’s history.
Not to be outdone was Kylian Mbappé, who after setting up Giroud’s opener bagged a brace to become the first player in World Cup history to score eight career goals before his 24th birthday.
Mbappé’s first goal of the night in the 74th minute highlighted the very best qualities of this sensational French team. Centre back Raphaël Varane outmuscled Polish striker Robert Lewandowski to start the counter attack. Forward Antoine Griezmann displayed great selflessness in helping out in his own box to win back possession. Giroud had a sublime touch on the ball as he kept the attacking sequence moving along. Ousmane Dembele’s speed and directness in progressing the ball forward pushed Poland back on its heels. And Mbappé’s sheer skill in firing a powerful shot into the top left corner that no goalkeeper could’ve saved was something to behold.
“He can change a match in just a moment and he’s always playing with such joy and we all want to share those smiles with him,” France manager Didier Deschamps told reporters after the game. “France needed a great Kylian Mbappé tonight and they got one.”
Senegal flames out with heavy loss to England
Senegal marked its World Cup debut in 2002 in grand style, defeating reigning world and European champions France, featuring Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, in the opening game of the tournament in Seoul. The Lions of Teranga further announced themselves on the international stage by going unbeaten in the group stage and defeating Sweden to become only the third African nation to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s World Cup.
Twenty years later, Senegal arrived in Qatar looking to duplicate the sensational feat of that amazing side that was captained by current coach Aliou Cissé and forward El Hadji Diouf, who was named to the tournament’s all-star team. But the dream was snuffed out in the cruellest of fashions on Sunday by a first-rate England team.
The reigning African champions were dealt a crushing blow on the eve of this World Cup when star striker Sadio Mané of Bayern Munich was ruled out of the competition due to injury. After losing to the Netherlands in its opening match, the Senegalese didn’t look like they’d be sticking around in Qatar for very long. But they quickly regrouped and rebounded with a pair of wins over the host nation and Ecuador to book their spot in the round of 16, with Mané’s absence made up for by five different players stepping up to score in the group stage.
But a fighting spirit and resolve can only carry you so far at a World Cup. Ultimately, class prevails. England has it in abundance; Senegal is in short supply of it. That was the difference on the day as England was positively ruthless in attack as it unmercifully exploited the Africans’ defensive shortcomings, with the usually reliable Kalidou Koulibaly proving to be a liability.
