DOHA, Qatar (AP) — It’s an enormous day for goalkeepers with large reputations when defending champion France faces Poland within the spherical of 16 on the World Cup on Sunday.Hugo Lloris will tie a nationwide group document for Les Bleus 4 years after lifting the trophy as captain. Reverse quantity Wojciech Szczęsny is a penalty-saving, wise-cracking No. 1 who appears to be having fun with the event greater than some other participant.Each get a stage to shine at Al Thumama Stadium making an attempt to disclaim two of probably the most feared forwards in Qatar — Kylian Mbappé and two-time FIFA participant of the yr Robert Lewandowski.“The important thing to stopping Mbappé? It’s me,” Szczęsny quipped when Poland’s place within the knockout bracket was confirmed.Lloris will face Lewandowski in a world recreation for the primary time when he matches the document of Lilian Thuram, the best again in France’s 1998 world champion group.“It’s fairly one thing and I’m very honored,” Lloris mentioned Saturday. He was in the identical France squad as Thuram as an uncapped 21-year-old in 2008 although was by no means performed with him.France coach Didier Deschamps, who performed typically with Thuram and was captain within the 1998 remaining in Paris, paid tribute to them.“They’ve proven exemplary professionalism for the nationwide group,” Deschamps mentioned Saturday.Lloris is a naturally quiet and courteous chief of this proficient France group and he praised Szczęsny, who he beforehand confronted at reverse ends of the north London rivalry between Tottenham and Arsenal.“He’s enjoying an impressive event,” Lloris mentioned. “Poland should be right here at this stage they usually’ve acquired an excellent goalkeeper as properly.”Szczęsny is the one goalkeeper this World Cup to have saved two spot kicks — one in opposition to Saudi Arabia and the second in opposition to Lionel Messi. Szczęsny himself conceded the latter one for brushing the Argentina nice’s face along with his glove when stretching for a cross. It was scoreless on the time in a recreation Argentina received 2-0 on Wednesday.Szczęsny’s instructed the story of how he guess Messi throughout a prolonged video evaluation that the penalty wouldn’t be awarded, solely including to his quirky time in Qatar.The character of the 32-year-old Juventus goalkeeper, who is ready to play his seventieth recreation for Poland, isn’t any shock to long-time teammates.“It’s not that Wojciech Szczęsny began to be such an excellent goalkeeper on this event — he’s been an excellent goalkeeper for years,” ahead Arkadiusz Milik mentioned Saturday via an interpreter. “It’s not a coincidence that in his profession he performed for fantastic golf equipment.”Poland probably will want Szczęsny and Lewandowski to excel in its first knockout recreation at a World Cup since 1986. Since that 4-0 loss to Brazil, France received each its world titles and in addition was a crushed finalist.Deschamps highlighted Lewandowski’s qualities as intelligent, technically gifted and is aware of use his physique intelligently in opposition to defenders.“He didn’t get a number of the ball within the group stage, however with only one likelihood he might be very harmful,” the France coach mentioned.Giving Poland some hope is that France misplaced within the spherical of 16 final yr on the European Championship in opposition to Switzerland. Mbappé had the decisive penalty saved in a shootout after a 3-3 draw.“We talked about that loads,” mentioned Lloris, who couldn’t cease any of the 5 Swiss spot kicks that night time in Bucharest. “You need to be assured, but when a penalty is properly taken, then the goalkeeper has no likelihood of stopping it.”In Qatar, Szczęsny could be simply the one to show that mistaken.___AP World Cup protection: https://Fifanews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports