FIFA World Cup 2022: Didier Deschamps heaps praises on Poland before Round of 16 clash

France will be up against Poland in the round of 16 of the World Cup. Ahead of the match, the French manager Didier Deschamps had only good words to say about his opponents.

France finished as Group D winners while Poland scraped past the group as runners-up to Argentina. They were mostly unimpressive throughout the group-stage matches, but somehow managed to get to the knockouts at the expense of Mexico, thanks to a superior goal difference.

But ahead of the meet, Didier Deschamps seemed a lot more cautious about his opponents.

"All the games are difficult, all the teams are good and prepared. The players all play in good leagues. This team has had to defend in the first three games, defend a lot and they defend very well. They love it," Deschamps said on Poland.

"They have a hardcore of players with good experience. You have to respect what this team does, they deserve to be there," he added.

France lost their final group game against Tunisia and Deschamps also fired a warning as he said any team can suffer difficulty if they take things for granted. He said they will have to be prepared for every situation as it is too unpredictable to narrate the proceedings in a world cup match, given the fate teams like Germany and Uruguay have faced already.

Poland will be playing their first World Cup knockout match since 1986. They faced France once in the WC, that was in 1982, where the Polish won the 3rd placed play-off match by a 3-2 scoreline.