Giroud breaks France’s record as holders beat Poland to reach quarterfinals

Giroud opened scores as France defeated Poland 3-1 to move to the quarterfinal of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time leading goal scorer as the World Cup holders coasted past Poland to reach the quarterfinals, reports BBC.

The AC Milan striker scored his 52nd goal for France to claim the country’s outright record, surpassing the great Thierry Henry.

The historic goal came on the stroke of half-time after Giroud controlled Kylian Mbappe’s pass before converting low into the net beyond the reach of Wojciech Szczesny.

But having provided the assist for the first goal, the brilliant Mbappe turned on the style by scoring two fabulous strikes in the second half.

He hit a powerful drive into the roof of the net from 16 yards for his first and curled home a wonderful second in injury time to take the lead in the Golden Boot race with five goals.

Didier Deschamps’ side had been left frustrated up until the opener and could well have fallen behind.

Poland’s best opening in the first half came when the ball dropped for Piotr Zielinski in the centre of the penalty area, but his strike was straight at Hugo Lloris.

Robert Lewandowski did manage a consolation for the Poles, rolling in a penalty with the last kick of the game.

Giroud’s 52 goals have come in 117 games, since his senior international debut at the age of 25 in 2011

English Premier League football followers may have thought Giroud was past his best when he left England after 10 seasons with Arsenal and Chelsea to join Milan. But the 36-year-old scored 14 goals in all competitions last term as he helped the Rossoneri claim the Serie A title for the first time in 11 years.

On his 117th cap, Giroud was desperately looking for that record goal against