France vs Poland – World Cup: Team news, lineups & prediction
Reigning world champions France face Poland in their round of 16 tie on Sunday afternoon.
Both nations advanced despite losing their final group games. Yet, while Didier Deschamps shuffled his pack against Tunisia with qualification already assured, Poland scraped into the round of 16 by goal difference alone. For more than 20 minutes, Poland were only above Mexico in Group C by virtue of a lower yellow card tally.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming knockout tie.
France vs Poland H2H Results (All Time)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
France team news
After an injury-riddled start to the tournament, Deschamps wrapped his stars up in cotton wool, making nine changes to the starting XI which faced Tunisia. The lacklustre performance – until some of those lofty names came on – would have done little to convince Deschamps that any of the reserves deserve a starting berth.
France Starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud.
Bench: Mandanda, Areola, Disasi, Pavard, Saliba, Konate, Guendouzi, Veretout, Camavinga, Y Fofana, Kolo Muani, Coman, Thuram.
Poland team news
Czeslaw Michniewicz is expected to have a full squad at his disposal. Although, Poland’s manager doesn’t seem to be entirely convinced of the quality it possesses. Before backtracking, Michniewicz joked: “I can’t turn water into wine. Although here that might be useful.”
Poland Starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Cash, Glik, Kiwior, Bereszynski; Krychowiak, Bielik; Frankowski, Zielinski, Kaminski; Lewandowski.
Bench: Grabara, Skorupski, Bednarek, Jedrzejczyk, Wieteska, Gumny, Zurkowski, D Szymanski, Zalewski, S Szymanski, Grosicki, Swiderski, Skoras, Milik, Piatek.
France to win by 2+ goals – France have won 12 of their last 15 knockout stage matchesat the World Cup, with exactly half of those wins coming with a 2+ goal margin.
France to win & both teams to score – France have only kept one clean sheet across their last 13 gamesheld outside of France, still winning five of the last nine such matches.
France to win and both teams to score is currently 13/5*
Both teams to score? No – Both sides failed to score in their last match, while none ofPoland’s last five World Cup matches have seen both teams score a goal.
France under 0.5 cards – France have been shown just one yellow card at this World Cup,while committing only 15 fouls in total.
Half-time correct score? 0-0 – Poland are yet to concede in the first half of a game atthis World Cup, while each of France’s last two matches have been goalless at half-time.
Player to be carded – Grzegorz Krychowiak has been shown four yellow cards for Poland in2022, twice as many as any teammate. He’s averaged two fouls per game across his last eightinternational appearances.
Kylian Mbappe 3+ shots on target – Kylian Mbappé has registered 34 shots on target across hislast 11 starts for France, at an average of 3.1 per game.
Player to score anytime – Olivier Giroud has scored 15 goals across his last 21 starts forFrance, while he needs just one goal to become the outright all-time top scorer for the men’s
Insights courtesy of Opta. Head to The Analyst Stats Hub for live group stage standings, top scores, match metrics, team stats and much more!
*Odds correct at time of publication. 18+. Please gamble responsibly. BeGambleAware.org
While the loss suffered by France’s B team to Tunisia offers little insight into their clash with Poland, the luxury of rotation could play a key role going forward. Deschamps certainly thinks so. “I think we’ll see the benefit four days from now,” the World Cup winner warned.
Poland have been comfortably outshot in all three of their group games yet somehow conspired to eke out four points. If they adopt the same desperately passive approach, France and their well-rested frontline are unlikely to be quite as forgiving as Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
Prediction: France 3-0 Poland
Harry Symeou hosts Jack Gallagher and Toby Cudworth to look back on Germany ’06 as part of the ‚Our World Cup‘ series. We take a trip down memory lane – join us!
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