France vs Poland: Key battles to watch for

Defending World champions head into Sunday’s game against Poland as clear favourites, but shocks have happened in this tournament, and Les Blues must be wary of their European counterparts. After 2 wins from their opening two games, France lost to an unfancied Tunisian team while Poland barely scrapped to the next round.

The game at the Al Thumama Stadium sees France play Poland for just the second time in World Cup history after their 3rd place playoff game at the 1982 World Cup held in Spain.

We take a look at some of the fascinating individual battles the game might throw up. But before then, don't forget to take a swipe at casino en ligne.

Kylian Mbappe vs Matty Cash

Aston Villa defender, Matty Cash will have to be on top of his game today to stop the marauding Kylian Mbappe. The French forward is growing into his role as Les Blues' chief attacking threat and will be mostly responsible for what they do going forward. Cash will have to be switched on at all times, aa Mbappe is extremely fast and can cause damage in the twinkling of an eye. He already has 3 World Cup goals and joins Pele as the only player to have 7 World Cup goals before the age of 24. Cash is normally dependable but this is new territory for the 25-year-old defender. Who comes out top in this battle might have a big say on the outcome of the game.

Grzegorz Krychiowiak vs Aurelien Tchouameni

France came into this World Cup without their midfield trio from Russia 2018; Kante, Pogba and Matuidi. However, the partnership of Adrien Rabiot and Real Madrid sensation, Aurelien Tchouameni have combined to ensure that their absence has not really been felt. However, for 22-year-old Tchouameni, he would come up against a very tricky customer in Grzegorz Krychiowiak. The 32-year-old central midfielder who now plays in Saudi Arabia is the orchestrator of the Polish midfield, and limiting him will be very important in who takes control of the midfield.

Olivier Giroud vs Kamil Glik

Tough-as-nails defender, Kamil Glik is known all around Europe as a no-nonsense, old-school type of centre-back who doesn’t give strikers any breathing space. The 34-year-old, who plies his trade these days with Serie B side, Benevento will come up against Olivier Giroud, who is just one goal away from breaking the all-time Les Blues scoring record set by Thierry Henry. Giroud is the archetypal target man, who will hold up play and try to bring in the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe, while Ousmane Dembele runs into the channels. It promises to be an interesting match-up.

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Robert Lewandowski vs Raphael Varane

Perhaps the most important match-up for the French national team. Stopping Robert Lewandowski will be key to stopping Poland as an attacking unit as the Barcelona striker is one of the game’s last true strikers. He recently scored his first-ever World Cup goal in the win against Saudi Arabia, but he comes up against an equally formidable opponent in Raphael Varane. The Manchester United defender has shaken off a torrid 12 months and is looking like the Raphael Varane of old; solid, graceful and very hard to beat as a striker. Varane will need to be very careful though because Lewandowski is surely one of the greatest strikers of all time. With 635 goals in 902 career appearances, he’s definitely a threat and Varane must surely keep an eye on him.