France qualified for the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a goal by Olivier Giroud and is now looking for a place in the final in its match against Morocco.

The 36-year-old French striker of AC Milan (Italy), scored twice in France’s 4-1 win over Australia, one in the round of 16 against Poland.

With his winner goal against England in the quarterfinals, Giroud became the French top scorer of all time, with 52 goals.

Un ?￰ﾝﾗﾘ?￰ﾝﾗﾢ?￰ﾝﾗﾗ ?￰ﾝﾗﾘ́?￰ﾝﾗﾘ?￰ﾝﾗﾗ?￰ﾝﾗﾜ?￰ﾝﾗﾘ, fêté par tout le groupe ?

?￰ﾝﾗﾲ?￰ﾝﾗﾹ?￰ﾝﾗﾲ?￰ﾝﾗ﾿ ?￰ﾝﾘﾂ?￰ﾝﾗﾲ?￰ﾝﾗ﾿ de l'histoire des Bleus, @_OlivierGiroud_ a reçu un maillot floqué 5️⃣2️⃣, comme le nombre de buts inscrits depuis novembre 2011 (117 sélections ?￰ﾟﾇﾷ) !#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/GXl9rjczlL

— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) December 7, 2022

Outspoken about his faith

Giroud has always been very publicly outspoken about his faith in Christ.

A tattoo on the inside of his right arm reads: “dominus regit me et nihil mihi deerit”, which is Latin for “The Lord is my shepherd, i shall not want”, a reference to Psalm 23.

In 2019, he guest edited French Christian magazine 'Jesus'. “I try to speak about my faith whenever I can, I feel I have to use my media profile to talk about my commitment to Jesus Christ”, said the footballer.

He was involved with the evangelistic Alpha Courses during his time as a Chelsea striker in London, and organised an Open Doors gala event there, along with several Christian players twice, to raise money for persecuted Christians.

He has also written a book, along with writer Dominique Rouch, about his life called Always Believe, where he talks about his faith as well.

“I believe in the story of Jesus in the Bible and that it is to bring us more humility. […] Suffering is a basic part of life. My faith helped me every single day, particularly when I had to make big decisions. You can understand from my book why I stayed at Chelsea instead of signing for Inter. One thing I will tell you is God has got a plan for every single person on Earth. We make our path and the Lord sets the pace”, he told The Guardian newspaper.

Testimony on the football field

During the Euro 2021 he pointed out that “my faith helps me to be positive, to put things into perspective, to move forward, to know how to forgive as well. It's something that calms me down and gives me a lot of serenity".

This year, celebrating the scudetto (Italian championship) he won with Milan, he was wearing a T-shirt under his official team shirt with the text “I love Jesus”.

On the way to the match, in the team bus, he always reads the Bible. Furthermore, “I use to pray on the pitch before every game and after every goal as well, with my eyes and my index fingers pointing to heaven. I simply want to give glory to Christ”.

While reflecting on winning the World Cup in 2018, Giroud told the Daily Mail: “I just thanked God. I was very grateful to have the opportunity to live my dream. To live every single day for me is a day blessed”.