Mbappe double fires France into quarters
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A brilliant double from Kylian Mbappe fired France into the World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday as England romped past Senegal to set up a mouthwatering last-eight showdown with Les Bleus.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Mbappe rifled home two blistering second-half strikes as France cruised to a 3-1 victory over Poland.
Veteran striker Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for the defending champions with his 52nd international goal to pass Thierry Henry as France's all-time leading scorer.
In Sunday's late game, England turned on the style with a confident 3-0 victory over African champions Senegal, the goals coming from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.
It means that France and England will face each other on Saturday in a heavyweight quarter-final collision -- only their third meeting at a World Cup tournament after previous encounters at the 1966 and 1982 finals.
The undisputed star of France's win at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha was the 23-year-old Mbappe, who took his career World Cup goals tally to nine in two tournaments.
"It wasn't easy because Poland were well organised and tried to counter us," France coach Didier Deschamps said.
"Then there is Kylian with his ability to resolve all sorts of problems, and that's just as well for us.
"This team has been united from the beginning and obviously a result like this one confirms that. The joy is shared among everyone."
Poland's lone strike came from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, with striker Robert Lewandowski converting a retaken spot-kick that was awarded for handball by Dayot Upamecano.
France are bidding to become the first team to win successive World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 after winning Group D in Qatar.
With Mbappe in blistering form, few would bet against France completing their quest for a third World Cup crown to set alongside their titles in 1998 and 2018.