World Cup 2022: France's path to the final

France started the World Cup with more questions than answers after being ravaged by injuries, but they quickly ended the curse of the defending champions to reach the final thanks to their ruthlessness, mental strength and moments of sheer brilliance.

Kylian Mbappe scored five goals in his first three matches while Olivier Giroud, who owes his place in the starting lineup to Karim Benzema's last-minute injury, became France's all-time goal scorer as he launched the campaign with the first goal of their inaugural 4-1 win against Australia.

He also netted the winner in the 2-1 victory against England in the quarter-final.

Here's how France made it to the final.

France started the tournament on the back of a dismal Nations League campaign and fell behind early on, but they quickly recovered as Adrien Rabiot and Giroud put them ahead at half-time.

They lost left-back Lucas Hernandez for the rest of the competition to a serious knee injury.

Giroud was at it again in the second half before Mbappe opened his account in Qatar with a career sixth goal in the World Cup to give Les Bleus much-needed momentum.

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Having lost their last two games against Denmark in June and September, France were facing their first real test of the tournament.

Mbappe tapped in the opener in the 61st minute of a tense encounter, seven minutes before Andreas Christiansen headed home the equaliser.

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