Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer as the World Cup holders overtook Poland to reach the quarter-finals.
The AC Milan striker scored his 52nd goal for France to claim the country’s all-time record, overtaking the great Thierry Henry.
The historic goal came on the stroke of half-time after Giroud controlled Kylian Mbappe’s pass before converting low into the net beyond Wojciech Szczesny’s reach.
But after providing the assist for the opener, the brilliant Mbappe activated the style by netting two fabulous second-half goals.
He hit a powerful drive into the roof of the net from 16 yards out for his first and curled home a wonderful second in injury time to lead the Golden Boot race with five goals.
Didier Deschamps’ team were frustrated until the first game and could well have fallen behind.
Poland’s best opening in the first half came when the ball fell for Piotr Zielinski in the center of the penalty area, but his strike went straight past Hugo Lloris.
Robert Lewandowski netted a consolation for the Poles, scoring a penalty with the game’s final kick.
England and Senegal face off on Sunday (19:00 GMT) for the right to face France in the quarter-finals next Saturday.
Giroud and Mbappé set new records
Premier League football fans may have thought Giroud was past his best when he left England after 10 seasons with Arsenal and Chelsea to join Milan.
But the 36-year-old scored 14 goals in all competitions last season as he helped the Rossoneri win the Serie A title for the first time in 11 years.
On his 117th cap, Giroud was desperate for that record goal against Poland, grimacing and shaking his head whenever an opportunity presented itself.
He had a great chance when Ousmane Dembele kicked a cutback through the goal but couldn’t get enough contact on the ball and screwed it wide.
He was presented with another big moment on 44 minutes, and this time he converted before being mobbed by all of his teammates during the celebrations.
France will see another of their domestic records broken if captain Lloris lines up in the quarter-finals to earn a 143rd cap that will allow them to beat legendary defender Lilian Thuram.
But it is Poland who have goalkeeper Szczesny to thank for a one-goal deficit at the break. The Juventus striker dealt with Tchouameni’s low strike from distance, an effort from Dembele after a weaving run and Jules Kounde’s shot from a tight angle.
However, Szczesny was unable to prevent Mbappe from breaking another record by overtaking Pele’s tally of scoring seven World Cup goals before the age of 24. The 23-year-old, who celebrates his next birthday two days before the final, scored both his goals came from similar positions in the penalty area to take his World Cup goals to nine in 11 appearances.
He has scored 16 goals in his last 14 games for France and 33 in total in 63 appearances.
Barcelona striker Lewandowski barely snorted, but brought home a 99th-minute consolation from the penalty spot – after Lloris had left his line too quickly saving the opening effort. The Poles are now without a win in their last eight meetings against France.
