France vs Poland

There is arguably no more exciting player at this World Cup than Kylian Mbappe, who leads France into their last 16 clash with a Polish side whose own hopes of pulling off a famous upset will based on Robert Lewandowski.

It is a sobering thought that Mbappe, who will not be 24 until the end of the month, may not be at his best, but he has scored seven goals in 10 World Cup games. That number includes one of the finals of 2018 when he was still in his teens as France defeated Croatia in Moscow.

His task now is to help his country become the first to retain the World Cup since Brazil, with a young Pelé in 1962.

Mbappe has already featured three times in Qatar, including two assists in the 2-1 win over Denmark which secured qualification for the last 16, and is believed to be thriving as the undisputed star of the Qatari side. Didier Deschamps. The situation is different from that of Paris Saint-Germain, where he shares the show with Lionel Messi and Neymar, and in this sense, it may be that the suspension of Karim Benzema at the end of the competition does not harm the French hopes.

"Kylian has no money," Deschamps insisted a few days ago, opposing the idea of ​​Mbappé as part of PSG. "He's a good player for us and his performances put him in the spotlight. He's not 18 anymore. He has experience now. It wasn't just Mbappe - who now has as many international goals as Zinedine Zidane - that France missed out as the second team beat Tunisia 1-0 on Wednesday, a result that did not stop them from dominating their group.

He will return alongside Hugo Lloris, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud as France and Poland meet in a major tournament for the first time since the 1982 World Cup.

"Kylian is not the same player or the same person as in 2018," Griezmann said on Friday when asked about Mbappe's role in a team that has many injured players ahead of the tournament.

"He's part of the team now. He talks a lot and has fun. He knows that the media, fans and even his team will watch whatever he does, but it is more than a curse.

France were the favorites in the match, but there were reminders of what happened in the last 16 of last year's European Championship, when Mbappe missed a crucial penalty in their win over Switzerland. Poland moved their group ahead of Mexico on goal difference and Lewandowski scored - his first goal of the World Cup - and their win over Saudi Arabia was so important.

"I know this could be my last World Cup, I want to say that I played football and played football in the World Cup," he said after the match. The 34-year-old also scored nine goals in the qualifiers and no one else is on the same level as Czeslaw Michniewicz's teammates.

"We are happy because getting out of the league is our goal," defender Jakub Kiwior said after the team's training session on Friday.