Heavyweights England and France will battle less-fancied oppositions as the two table-toppers battle Poland and Senegal, respectively. France will kick off today's fixtures in the earlier game, at the Al-Thumama Stadium, while the Al Bayt Stadium will host England vs Senegal in the late night fixture.
France vs Poland - 8:30 pm IST
The first match tonight will be between two teams that ended their FIFA World Cup group stages with defeats. While France topped its group despite the 1-0 loss to Tunisia, Poland just about made it through after losing 2-0 to Argentina.
France, which was the first team in the tournament to qualify for the Round of 16, starts as the overwhelming favourite thanks to the quality of its firepower. The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, who were rested for the Tunisia game, will be the main threats to the Polish defence.
Meanwhile, the European side will look at either end of their team for inspiration as goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and striker Robert Lewandowski will carry the weight of the team's expectations. Szczesny has been in great form in the tournament, having saved two penalties including Lionel Messi's in the final group-stage match. However, Lewandowski and his fellow forwards will have to put on their shooting boots as Poland has registered just 5 shots on target at the World Cup so far.
The match will be played at the Al-Thumama Stadium, in Doha, at 8:30 pm IST.
England vs Senegal - 12:30 am IST
The Three Lions are heading into the match on the back of a comfortable 3-0 win against neighbour Wales and have scored the most goals (9), alongside Spain, and recorded the best Goal Difference (+7) in the group stage. England is yet to lose to an African opposition in a FIFA World Cup but Senegal is no pushover.
The Senegalese are the reigning African champions after all and despite not having their talisman Sadio Mane, who is out through injury, they have no shortage of goalscorers. All five of the team's goals so far have come from different goalscorers. Add that to the fact that England failed to keep a clean sheet against Iran, who scored twice, which should be a morale boost for Senegal.
The match is at the Al Bayt Stadium, in Al Khor, at 12:30 am IST.
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