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Olivier Giroud's goal gave defending champions France a 1-0 lead going into half-time against Poland here at Al Thumama Stadium in the round of 16 match.
The French team started off aggressively when Antoine Griezmann came with a cross following a corner which helped Raphael Varane take a header from very close range but it went high and wide to the right. In the eleventh minute of the match, France made another attacking move when Kylian Mbappe's assist helped Ousmane Dembele take a right-footed shot from a difficult angle on the right and was blocked. Two minutes later Adrien Rabiot's assist helped Aurelien Tchouameni right footed shot from outside the box and was saved in the bottom left corner. Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Przemyslaw Frankowski kept on pressing for a goal but the World Champions could not get a breakthrough. In the 29th minute, Antoine Griezmann tries a through ball but Ousmane Dembele is caught offside. The World Champion finally took the lead in the 44th minute when Kylian Mbappe's through ball was converted by Olivier Giroud left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Two-time champions France also enjoyed more possession than Poland having 56 per cent of it while the other team had only 44. On the other hand, France had five shots on target whereas the Polish side had only two. (ANI)
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