France vs Poland LIVE: World Cup 2022 team news and line-ups as Kylian Mbappe starts with Olivier Giroud

No players has created more chances than the 11 Antoine Griezmann has produced for France in this tournament, and his 2.34 expected assist mark is the best in Qatar, according to the stats gurus at Opta.

The Atletico Madrid forward is in fact the only player to create at least 10 chances in both this World Cup and Russia 2018 for France.

Kylian Mbappe has had nine more shots (16) and five more shots on target (seven) than any France player in the 2022 World Cup.

Only Just Fontaine (13) has more World Cup goals for France than Mbappe (seven), who scored twice in the round of 16 in 2018 against Argentina.

Will Wojciech Szczesny be crucial in Poland’s bid for a quarter-final berth? Yes.

Szczesny has a 90% save percentage at the 2022 World Cup, and had saved each of his first 16 shots on target faced in the tournament prior to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal for Argentina.

He has saved a penalty in each of his last two games at the World Cup, while no goalkeeper on record has ever stopped three penalties in a single edition of the tournament since 1966, excluding shootouts.

Wojciech Szczesny has revealed he made a €100 bet with Lionel Messi over whether their collision during Argentina’s World Cup win over Poland would be given as a penalty.

The Poland goalkeeper rushed out to punch a cross but missed the ball and clattered into a leaping Messi during the first half of the crucial Group C encounter at Stadium 974. The referee, Danny Makkelie, did not deem the incident a penalty but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened and instructed the on-field official to check his pitch-side monitor.

As the players waited for the decision, Szczesny says he was so confident over the outcome that he bet Messi €100 that the referee would not change his mind. Cameras then showed Szczesny offer up a wry smile as the referee duly awarded the spot-kick.

The Poland goalkeeper was wrongly convinced he would not be penalised for the incident against Argentina but had the last laugh as he saved Messi’s spot-kick

For a man whose only club trophy is the 2012 Coupe de France, Hugo Lloris has already enjoyed a career of rare success. If Sunday will bring another indelible achievement, there is a chance it will be dwarfed by another two weeks later. When he faces Poland, The Tottenham goalkeeper will equal Lilian Thuram’s record of 142 caps for France. Everyone else, from Michel Platini to Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry to Marcel Desailly, is already far behind him.

Prevail in Lusail on 18 December, however, and Lloris will stand apart in footballing history. No man has captained two World Cup-winning teams. Judging by the number of times Lloris referred to being focused on a last-16 tie with the Poles, he is trying not to be distracted by the prospect of an unparalleled feat.

But the inevitability of drawing level with Thuram was impossible to ignore. “It is quite something and I am very honoured to reach that figure and that number of caps,” said the goalkeeper. “I will probably appreciate reaching that record once the competition is over and hopefully after a successful tournament.”

The World Cup-winning goalkeeper has records in his sights but faces a clinical threat in the shape of Poland’s No. 9

This will be Poland’s first match in the knockout stage of a World Cup since 1986, when they lost 4-0 to Brazil in the round of 16.

They are facing the reigning champions at a World Cup for the third time, having avoided defeat in their previous two such games.

The 2018 winners face Poland on Sunday in their last 16 clash having already lost 1-0 to Tunisia in the group stage.

Germany and Belgium suffered surprise early exits while Spain lost to Japan and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia. France are favourites to progress but Deschamps, who won the World Cup as a player in 1998, remains wary.

France are favourites to progress in their last 16 tie but the World Cup has been a tournament of shocks so far

The French team have arrived at the Al Thumama Stadium. Kick off is just over 40 minutes away, who will join the Netherlands and Argentina in the semi-finals?

Since the last 16 stage was introduced in 1986, France have appeared at this here five times and progressed on every occasion. Doing so in 1986, 1998, 2006, 2014 and 2018.