Olivier Giroud opened France’s goal-scoring account against Poland in their round of 16 game on Sunday. The striker overtook French legend Thierry Henry’s tally of 51 goals in the 44th minute to become the country’s highest.
Giroud scored his 52nd in the simplest manner. Upamecano passed the ball to Kylian Mbappe in the inside-left channel. The forward then threaded it to Giroud. The striker then clipped a shot across Polish goalkeeper Szczesny into the corner.
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“Mbappe assisting Giroud to break the goal record that Mbappe will eventually break,” a Twitter user said.
“Olivier Giroud has overtaken Thierry Henry as the sole all-time top scorer of the French national team. Olivier Giroud isn’t 5% as good as Thierry Henry,” a second one said.
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“Giroud is now top of the French all time top goal scorer list. Such an underrated player he is man,” a third one tweeted.
Giroud, playing his 117th game for Les Bleues, has played six less than Henry. Antoine Griezmann, who is also a part of France’s World Cup 2022 squad, has 42 goals in 108 games.
France’s top goal-scorers:
Olivier Giroud- 52 goals in 116 games
Thierry Henry – 51 goals in 123 games
Antoine Griezmann – 42 goals in 108 games
“It’s about concentrating on the positives and to not pay too much attention to the negatives,” Giroud said ahead of the game. “I have always had to face difficulties in life like most people do. It’s nice to be able to go about your work with a smile.”
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“Personally, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be next to Thierry now. It is an unbelievable feeling – and we couldn’t have hoped for a better start at the World Cup,” he had added. “But I aim to play football for as long as my body will allow me. I am a competitor. I am still very passionate and I still have all of my hunger. As long as I feel good I will do my best for the team to reach our target. I feel very good. Some of my friends have told me I’m like a fine wine.”
