French coach Didier Deschamps stood by his decision to drastically reshuffle his team ahead of their final Group D match against Tunisia on Wednesday, insisting that key players had recharged their batteries for the knockout stage.
Deschamps made nine changes from the team that qualified for the last 16 with a 2-1 win against Denmark, notably with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann starting on the bench in what ended with a 1-0 defeat .
While the defending champions almost secured first place in Group D, there’s almost nothing positive to be taken from a match where they were largely overwhelmed with only Ibrahima Konate showing off his talent as a centre-back.
“We have 24 players. The 24 won the first two games and the 24 lost the third,” Deschamps told a press conference.
“It will serve us for the next match. Some players will have charged their batteries. There were reasons for the players to rest. Games are now 100 minutes long. These are my choices and I support them. Anyway of the result we should play in four days.”
When is France vs Poland?
The game is on Sunday 4 December.
What time is kick-off?
The match kicks off at 3pm (GMT), 6pm local time at Al Thumama Stadium.
What TV channel is it on?
The match will be broadcast on BBC or ITV. Telegraph sports will also be doing a live blog on the game – you can bookmark this page now and return Saturday to follow our coverage.
How has France fared so far?
France got off to a strong start in defending their World Cup title back then they defeated Australia 4–1 in their opening match. Kylian Mbappe scored once and provided two assists as Olivier Giroud tied with Thierry Henry as the highest scoring Frenchman in their history.
Denmark was expected to be France’s toughest test in the group, but Mbappé was again the star he scored twice to send his team forward to the last 16.
With qualifying secured, Deschamps opted to rest his big names and it cost them too they lost 1–0 to Tunisia in their last group match.
How has Poland fared so far?
Poland were unconvincing in their opening match against Mexico, with talisman Robert Lewandowski missing a penalty in the goalless draw.
But they gave themselves a chance to qualify for the knockout stages as they beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 and Lewandowski scored his first goal in the World Cup.
In their last group game, Poland was again disappointing as they lost 2-0 to Argentina, but fortunately for them Mexico’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia was not enough to take second place away from them.