World Cup 2018: Tournament's 5 Most Unexpected Stars

Olivier Giroud

France v Belgium: Semi Final - 2018 FIFA World Cup

As of this writing, France are through to their third World Cup final; having won the competition as hosts in 1998, before losing to Italy on penalties in 2006. And as bizarre as it may sound, their non-scoring striker has been pivotal to their success at Russia 2018.

While he may win plenty of plaudits for his looks and appearance off the pitch, Olivier Giroud isn’t exactly the most stylish of footballers to watch on the pitch. As alluded to, he’s yet to score a goal in the World Cup despite starting every game bar Les Blues’ opening match against Australia. In fact, he’s yet to even have a single shot on target during the tournament!

What Giroud does do, however, is that his unflashy, selfless play allows those around him to shine – most notably Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann. For lack of a better phrase, the Chelsea striker does the unglamorous “donkey work” that keeps defenders busy and that draws players out of position in a way that allows Giroud’s strength and ability as a target man to free up time and space for the flashier attacking options in the France team.

With that in mind, though, only three players – Thierry Henry, Michel Platini, and David Trezeguet – have scored more goals for France, so don’t bet against Giroud adding to his international tally of 31 when he takes to the field in the World Cup final.