Head down, Robert Lewandowski said goodbye with his World Cup team. Poland did not manage to surprise France, nor did the Polish Barcelona striker offer the alleged duel of cracks with Mbappé with whom he joked at the end of the game with a resigned face. "You need joy in the game. It's important for the future. When we play defensively there isn't that joy. When we try to attack it's different. There are factors that can influence my decision to continue playing for Poland," said the 34-year-old striker. years with a farewell tone on the TVP Sport microphones about the possibility of playing in the next World Cup in 2026. He would be 37 years old.
The Warsaw attacker, who says goodbye to the World Cup with two goals in four games, barely had a chance to be seen with a shot in the first half that went slightly wide and made up his match by scoring a penalty of VAR that Hugo Lloris had stopped him, but that he was able to repeat because the Tottenham goalkeeper had gone ahead. "I didn't shoot well, I already knew I was going to stop it. But in the end I scored and I think that both I and my teammates deserved this goal because we tried. It was a very difficult match for us against the world champions. but we have tried to do our best". In Barcelona they await him the week of December 12 to join training with the eliminated Christensen, Ter Stegen and the injured Ronald Araújo.
Before Lewandowski's penalty goal, France had already done their homework. He started by marking Giroud. “The journey continues. It is a great experience that I am living. There is a lot of unity in the dressing room and it can be seen on the pitch”. The Frenchman said that at the age of 36 he made history by becoming the top scorer for the French team with 52 goals . "I wanted to score and stop talking about this record thing," acknowledged Giroud, who played his 117th game and already scored a double in France's opener against Australia. He has an average of 0.44 goals per game. “I dedicate it to my family. To my children to my wife. Also to the fans. Many people told me that this moment would come ”, the Frenchman concluded that in the historical scoring scale of the blues he finally surpassed Thierry Henry, second on the list with 51 goals. Third place on the podium is occupied by Antoine Griezmann with 42 goals. [Check the results of the World Cup in Qatar].
Beyond Giroud and his record, there was another name that shone on the French side. He is Kylian Mbappé who, a quarter of an hour before the end and with the game on track after assisting Giroud, burst in with his scoring talent scoring a double that allowed him to emerge as the top scorer so far in the World Cup with 5 goals. The PSG forward surpasses records by leaps and bounds with a two-goal advantage over his pursuers: Giroud, Morata, Messi, Enner Valencia, Rashford and Cody Gakpo, all with three goals.
“He is a great player, he shows it every time. He assisted Giroud and scored two great goals”, acknowledged Jules Koundé from Blaugrana before admitting that against Poland “we suffered a little but the victory is deserved. At the moment when we were worst we scored”. The coach Didier Deschamps spoke along the same lines. “It really wasn't easy, this Polish team was well organised. But we have the ability of players like Mbappé to solve many problems”. France is already waiting for England or Senegal in the quarterfinals.
