Defending champions France will face Robert Lewandowski’s Poland in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus dominated Group D and impressed again this winter.
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Mbappe’s France face Poland in World Cup Round of 16
France beat Australia and Denmark before a very different team lost to Tunisia.
Deschamps will bring his superstars back against Poland as they seek to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Poles finished second in Group C, fending off Mexico on goal difference.
Czeslaw Michniewicz’s side, who lost to Argentina in their last group game, flattered to trump Qatar and will need big improvement against the French.
England or Senegal will await the winner of this meeting in the quarter-finals.
France v Poland: talkSPORT coverage
This clash of the knockout stages of the World Cup will take place on Sunday, December 4.
The match at Al Thumama Stadium will start at 3 p.m.
The action will be live on talkSPORT 2, with Hugh Woozencroft as presenter.
Comments will then come from Nigel Adderley and former England striker Liane Sanderson.
talkSPORT World Cup 2022 coverage
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We broadcast all 64 matches of the tournament live, with over 600 hours of coverage on our network.
You can tune into talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com.
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Poland will need a huge display from Lewandowski against France
France v Poland: Squads and team news
France
- Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola, Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda
- Defenders: Théo Hernandez, Axel Disasi, Ibrahima Konaté, Jules Koundé, Benjamin Pavard, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Raphaël Varane
- Midfielders Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana, Matteo Guendouzi, Adrien Rabiot, Aurélien Tchouameni, Jordan Veretout
- Forwards: Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Christopher Nkunku, Marcus Thuram
Poland
- Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Skorupski, Bartlomiej Drągowski
- Defenders: Jan Bednarek, Bartosz Bereszynski, Matty Cash, Kamil Glik, Robert Gumny, Artur Jędrzejczyk, Jakub Kiwior, Mateusz Wieteska, Nicola Zalewski
- Midfielders: Krystian Bielik, Przemysław Frankowski, Kamil Grosicki, Jakub Kaminski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Michał Skoras, Damian Szymanski, Sebastian Szymanski, Piotr Zielinski, Szymon Zurkowski
- Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik, Krzysztof Pietek, Karol Swiderski
France looked impressive again at the World Cup
France v Poland: the facts of the match
- It will be the third time Poland have faced the defending champions in a World Cup tournament, having avoided defeat in each of the previous two – 1-0 against Brazil in 1974 and 0-0 against Germany in 1978. For France, meanwhile, this will be their first World Cup knockout game as defending champions.
- Since the introduction of the round of 16 of the 1986 World Cup, France have appeared at this stage five times and have progressed five times (1986, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018). The only other nations to appear at this stage more than once and progress each time are Germany (8/8) and Croatia (2/2).
- It will be Poland’s first game in the Round of 16 of a World Cup tournament since 1986, when they lost 0-4 to Brazil in the Round of 16. Their last World Cup victory outside of the group stage, however, came against France. , in their 3-2 play-off victory for third place in 1982.
- France became the first defending World Cup champions to reach the round of 16 since Brazil in 2006. The last defending champion to go out in the round of 16 was Italy in 1986, who lost 2- 0 against France.
- France are undefeated in their last seven meetings with Poland in all competitions (W3 D4), their last defeat against them being in a friendly in August 1982 (0-4). The Blues have kept a clean sheet in each of the last three in this run, all since the turn of the millennium.
- This will be the second meeting between France and Poland at the World Cup, the previous one having taken place in the play-off for third place in the 1982 tournament – a 3-2 win for Poland.
- Wojciech Szczesny has a 90% save percentage at the 2022 World Cup and had saved each of his first 16 shots on target at the tournament before Alexis Mac Allister’s goal for Argentina. Szczesny has saved a penalty in each of his last two World Cup games, while no goalkeeper has ever saved three penalties in a single edition of the tournament (since 1966, excluding penalty shootouts ).
- Kylian Mbappé has managed nine more shots (16) and five more shots on target (7) than any French player at the 2022 World Cup. Only Just Fontaine (13) has more World Cup goals for France than Mbappé (7), who scored twice in the round of 16 in 2018 against Argentina.
- Antoine Griezmann has created more chances than any other French player at the 2022 World Cup (11). Indeed, the only player to create 10+ in either of the last two World Cup tournaments for France has been Griezmann, despite already surpassing his 2018 tally when they lifted the trophy ( 10).
- Poland have registered just five shots on target in their three matches at the 2022 World Cup, including 60% in their game against Saudi Arabia on MD2 (3/5). Striker Robert Lewandowski recorded more of those shots on target (3) than the rest of the Poland squad combined (2).
Watch the World Cup with talkSPORT
At talkSPORT, we’re powered by fans, so come join us for the ultimate World Cup fan experience this winter – in the talkSPORT fan zone.
In a huge covered room under the arches of Waterloo in London, we will bring you live screenings of every World Cup match.
There will be Q&A with talkSPORT talent, you’ll be part of our live shows and plenty of food and drink will be on offer too.
Come and have the best World Cup fan experience in London – and enjoy a complimentary pint – with tickets for all remaining matches on sale HERE!
