It was a day to celebrate a record-breaking No 9. Just not Robert Lewandowski. Now at Barcelona, Poland’s highest scorer, a serial marksman in the Bundesliga, standing second only to Gerd Muller in the history of the German top flight and Bayern Munich alike, bowed out of the World Cup, perhaps forever, by doubling his tally at this level.
Yet, and perhaps for once, he paled by comparison with Olivier Giroud. In a sense, everyone who has ever played for France does, too. Even as Kylian Mbappe, who delivered a third display of breathtaking brilliance this World Cup 2022, outscored Giroud at the Al Thumama, he trails him on the all-time leaderboard. Even as Mbappe took his tally to five goals this World Cup, it was not the most notable statistic. Such is Giroud’s historic feat.
