France Legend Olivier Giroud Revels In "Childhood Dream" After Breaking Thierry Henry's Goals Record

Olivier Giroud fulfilled a "childhood dream" on Sunday night by beating Thierry Henry's goals record to become France's all-time leading scorer.

Giroud netted France's opener in a 3-1 win over Poland in the World Cup round of 16.

The 36-year-old has now scored 52 international goals in 117 games for his country.

Henry, 45, scored 51 times in 123 France games between 1997 and 2010.

Giroud was thrilled to score his record-breaking goal in front of his family.

Speaking to beIN SPORTS, he said: "There are my wife and my children who are there, plus my childhood friends. It's a childhood dream to beat Thierry Henry like that.

"A lot of people told me it was coming.

"Now I put it behind me and my obsession is to go as far as possible with the team."

Olivier Giroud pictured celebrating after scoring his 52nd goal for France

IMAGO/Sven Simon

Kylian Mbappe scored France's other two goals against Poland to take his international tally to 33 goals in 63 appearances.

It is widely expected that he will eventually break Giroud's record.

France's next game at the World Cup will be a quarter-final against England, who beat Senegal 3-0 in Sunday's other match.

That quarter-final is not until Saturday, so Giroud admitted that he and his France teammates were planning to celebrate their win over Poland.

"The adventure continues," added Giroud. "We said to ourselves in the locker room that to live a magnificent experience together, we had to be united.

"We were able to find the right words in the locker room. We have a great group of friends, it shows on the field. This team is rewarded for its efforts, we are not going to suppress our pleasure this evening."