Giroud breaks the scoring record for France

The 44th minute goal helped Giroud break Thierry Henry's old record of 51 goals for France. Of Giroud's 52 goals in 117 matches, 28 have come from friendlies and 24 in official competitions.

At the age of 36, two months and four days, Giroud is also the oldest player to score three or more goals at a World Cup. Before the match against Poland, he scored twice in the group stage, a brace against Australia.

Giroud said his wife, children and friends were present at the Al Thumama stadium. "My childhood dream was to break Henry's record," he said after the game. "I was very upset when I missed a couple of goals before. I really needed the goal so people could stop talking about this record. I'll put the record aside for now, to try my best to help. France goes as far as it can."

Giroud broke Henry's record, but Mbappe received the "Man of the Match" award with a double goal and an assist. Former striker Gary Lineker thinks "Mbappe will take Giroud's wave", but he added: "The first goal is always important in a game, Giroud's record is remarkable."

Former French female defender Laura Georges said that "Giroud is not properly evaluated for his ability". She added: "Giroud didn't score at the 2018 World Cup but he created space for his teammates. He deserves this record."

And former center-back Rio Ferdinand commented that Giroud "always does well what a striker needs to do".

Giroud is the same age as Yoann Gourcuff or Yohan Cabaye, but has never played for the French youth teams. High performance with Ligue 1 champion Montpellier in the 2011-2012 season helped him to be called up to the France team. The 1.93-meter-tall striker scored his first goal for France on February 29, 2012 in a friendly match against Germany, in his third appearance for the national team.

He did not score in the 2018 World Cup, even though he was an official striker and France won. Giroud lost the starting spot to Karim Benzema at Euro 2021, but the 2022 Ballon d'Or injury helped him continue to start at the 2022 World Cup.