As the group fixtures conclude at the 2022 World Cup, we move into the round of 16 and on the 4th of December we have a meeting between France and Poland. This all European clash will take place at the Al Thumama Stadium and the French qualified as winners of Group D, while the Polish finished runners-up in Group C.
France come into the game on the back of a 1-0 loss against Tunisia in their final Group D fixture. France selected a mostly second-string XI as they had already sealed their place in the round of 16 but none of the players covered themselves in glory.
Ce sera la 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗡𝗘 🇵🇱 en 𝟴𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 pour les Bleus 👊Réservez votre dimanche après-midi 😉#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/VJC3oCyqVQ— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 30, 2022
Ce sera la 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗡𝗘 🇵🇱 en 𝟴𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 pour les Bleus 👊Réservez votre dimanche après-midi 😉#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/VJC3oCyqVQ
With the score 0-0 at half time, Tunisia opened the scoring in the 58th minute and France could not get back into the match, despite making numerous substitutions.
However, the hard work was complete before the defeat against Tunisia and France started the 2022 World Cup with a 4-1 win over Australia. It was the Socceroos who opened the scoring after only 9 minutes but France responded to lead 2-1 at half time.
France added 2 more goals in the second half to win the match. The French then defeated Denmark 2-1 in a closely fought encounter.
Trends show France have won only 3 of their last 9 matches in all competitions.
The 3 victories have come in their 5 most recent fixtures and France have scored 2 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 games.
Poland qualified for the round of 16 despite losing their final group match 2-0 to Argentina. Poland were second best for much of the game and showed little interest in trying to actually win the match.
It almost backfired as Mexico came close to eliminating them from the competition but could not score a third goal in their match against Saudi Arabia.
Poland started their 2022 World Cup campaign with a hard fought 0-0 draw against Mexico.
They met Saudi Arabia in their second fixture and Poland produced a good performance to win the match 2-0.
It was that victory that paved the way for Poland to finish second in Group C, behind Argentina.
Trends show Poland are undefeated in 4 of their last 5 games in all competitions, including friendlies. They have failed to score more than a single goal in 5 of their last 7 matches.
Team news and France will make several changes to their starting XI from the game against Tunisia. Hugo Lloris, Theo Hernandez, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot, and Antoine Griezmann are among those who will come back into the team.
Poland are likely to go with the same starting XI as they did against Argentina in a bid to stifle the opposition.
France will be happy to face Poland rather than Argentina in this match. Poland will sit back and try to hit France on the counterattack. It may work to get them a goal but France have too much quality going forward and should come out on top, winning with both teams scoring.