Olivier Giroud has become the all-time leading goalscorer of France as the World Cup defending chamoions defeated Poland 3-1 to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Giroud, who plays for Serie A giants AC Milan striker scored his 52nd goal for France to grab the country’s outright record, surpassing the legendary Thierry Henry.
The milestone goal by Giroud arrived in 45 minutes after he controlled Kylian Mbappe’s pass before scoring low into the net beyond the reach of Wojciech Szczesny, who stood between the sticks for the Poles.
After giving the assist for the opening goal, PSG star forward Mbappe produced some magic by netting two fabulous strikes in the second interval.
He fired a powerful drive into the roof of the net from 16 yards for his first and curled home a wonderful second goal in injury time to shoot into the lead in the race for the Golden Boot with five goals.
But victory for France was not achieved on a platter as Didier Deschamps’ charges were left frustrated up until the opener and could well have fallen behind.
Poland’s best opening in the first half arrived when the ball dropped for Piotr Zielinski in the centre of the penalty area, but his shot went straight into the safe hands of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski scored a consolation for the Poles, rolling in a penalty with the last kick of the game
