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Matt Doherty's World Cup diary | 4 December

Sun 04 December 2022, 11:30|Tottenham Hotspur

We're into the knockout stage of the World Cup as Matt Doherty continues his diary with his take on the action from Qatar.

Now capped 33 times by the Republic of Ireland, Matt still has eight Spurs team-mates in Qatar, plus his experience of playing against a number of countries and players still in the competition. After negotiating the group stage, he will now give his insight in the knockout stage with two Round of 16 ties a day until Tuesday.

Yesterday’s results

Holland 3-1 USA
Argentina 2-1 Australia

Today’s matches

Last 16 - France v Poland (3pm, BBC)
Last 16 - England v Senegal (7pm, ITV)

Our players in action today

Hugo Lloris - France v Poland
Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Pape Matar Sarr - England v Senegal

What caught my eye yesterday

Matt: "I felt Holland would win by two goals, nothing surprising in there really, their first goal was a great team goal, Dumfries man of the match, two assists and a goal, plays the wing-back role really well. I was very impressed with Holland. Argentina-Australia, Messi was mesmerising in the second half, like we all know he can be. It ended 2-1, Australia could even got an equaliser at the end, but it should have been three, four."

What I’m looking forward to today

Matt: "France-Poland, I expect France to get through that comfortably enough, two, three goals, Mbappe and Dembele electric as usual. I wasn't impressed with Poland in their last game against Argentina. England-Senegal will be a bit closer. I expect England to get through, but Senegal are very good defensively and they might pose a few problems. I certainly see it closer than France-Poland. Hopefully Harry will get on the scoresheet and Eric gets some more time on the pitch."

If you only watch one game today

Matt: "The one game, I'd just edge it for France-Poland, just to watch how they play, I love watching them play."

Player to watch

Matt: "Let's just ask people to keep a close eye on Kylian Mbappe today, just watch his movement, watch how he dictates the pace he wants to play, how he brings other players into the game and how he just manages to be in the right place at the right time. He's a complete superstar. "