France vs Poland: Betting tips, predictions, odds & match preview
France will continue their quest to win back-to-back World Cups when they take on Poland in the last 16 on Sunday at 3pm (UK time).
France vs Poland: Betting tips
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France vs Poland: Predictions
France vs Poland: Predictions |
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| Bet | Prediction | Best odds |
| BTTS? | No | 16/25 with Midnite |
| Correct score | France 2-0 Poland | 23/5 with Midnite |
| First Goalscorer | Kylian Mbappe | 53/20 with Midnite |
France stumbled in their final group stage game, losing 1-0 to Tunisia, but had already secured their spot in the last 16 of the World Cup thanks to two wins from their opening two matches. First, Australia were dispatched in a 4-1 victory in which France came from a goal down, before Denmark were beaten beaten 2-1.
As a result, Deschamps opted to make nine changes ahead of the game against Tunisia to keep his favoured options fresh, but there may now be worries that it cut any momentum they had. France’s qualification to the last 16 ended a three-tournament run in which the defending champions had failed to make it out of the group stage, and now Les Bleus will be hoping to become just the third nation to win back-to-back World Cups, after Italy and Brazil.
But France do still have one eye on their defeat to Tunisia, after the French Football Federation confirmed they will be officially complaining about Antoine Griezmann’s disallowed goal. In the dying stages of the match, Griezmann thought he had equalised for France but it was eventually ruled out for offside – a decision that brought conversation on the offside rule on its own. But the more controversial topic was the fact that the referee had allowed Tunisia to restart the match (for a matter of moments) before blowing the full-time whistle – after which the goal was disallowed.
“We are writing a complaint after Antoine Griezmann’s goal was, in our opinion, wrongly disallowed. This complaint has to be filed within 24 hours after the final whistle,” the French Football Federation said in a statement.
VAR protocol dictates that any review is only possible before play has restarted, meaning that the referee whistling for the game to get back underway before blowing for full-time should have invalidated the review. If the referee had immediately blown for full-time, the review would have been possible.
Poland also lost their last group stage game but scraped through as Group C runners-up thanks to goal difference. For a while it looked to be even tighter than that, as at full-time in their match Poland had been going through on fair play having picked up fewer yellow cards than third-placed Mexico. But a late goal for Saudi Arabia saw Mexico’s goal difference drop to -1, compared to Poland’s 0.
But unlike France, Poland have been disappointing at the World Cup and were lucky not to lose by more than their 2-0 scoreline against Argentina. In the end, they were saved by a goalless draw in their opening match against Mexico, while also being Saudi Arabia 2-0, and are in knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time since 1986.
France vs Poland match result odds
France vs Poland match stats
As mentioned, Poland were poor in the group stage and scored just two goals across their three matches – with both coming in the 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia. Against Mexico and Argentina, Poland managed just 10 shots with only two on target – both coming against Mexico. Of the teams currently confirmed in the last 16, Poland have the fewest shots on target at just five.
At the other end of the pitch, Kylian Mbappe will be looking to test a Polish defence that, to be fair to them, having conceded just two goals. Mbappe is the joint-top scorer at the World Cup so far with three goals scored and has also had seven shots on target (out of France’s 17 in total) with only Lionel Messi (eight) managing more.
France vs Poland: Squawka Says
Scoreline prediction: France 2-0 Poland
France vs Poland head-to-head
9 June 2011 – Poland 0-1 France – Friendly
17 November 2004 – France 0-0 Poland – Friendly
23 February 2000 – France 1-0 Poland – Friendly
16 August 1995 – France 1-1 Poland – European Championship qualifying
16 November 1994 – Poland 0-0 France – European Championship qualifying
France are unbeaten in their past seven games against Poland and have lost just three of the 16 meetings overall, though one of those defeats did come at the 1982 World Cup – their only game at a major tournament.
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