Round-upWorld Cup: Konate features as France progress to meet Poland

Les Bleus, the holders, were beaten 1-0 by Tunisia in their final fixture of the opening phase, with Wahbi Khazri’s goal the difference at Education City Stadium.

But Konate’s country nevertheless claimed first place in the section on six points, with Australia securing the second qualifying berth after a 1-0 victory over Denmark.

It was a third appearance and second start at the tournament in Qatar for Konate, who said post-match: “We don’t like defeat. But we have to be focused now for the knockout stages.”

France move forward to a last-16 showdown with Poland, who finished second on goal difference following a 2-0 defeat by section winners Argentina as Group C concluded dramatically.

Elsewhere in the same group, Mexico achieved a 2-1 win against Saudi Arabia but narrowly missed out on a place in the last 16.

France’s knockout contest with Poland will be played on Sunday, kick-off 3pm GMT.

Coming up

Liverpool players’ next involvement in the competition comes on Friday, with Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Darwin Nunez’s nations concluding the group phase.

Nunez will hope to help Uruguay advance to the next stage, though they must defeat Ghana (3pm GMT) to have any chance of qualifying from Group H.

Brazil meet Cameroon (7pm GMT) having already confirmed their progress to the last 16, with one more point enough to guarantee top spot.

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