By Chris Sampson
- First World Cup meeting between England and France since 1982
- England looking for second successive semi-final appearance at FIFA World Cup
- Red hot Mbappe a huge threat for France
QATAR – England go into their quarter-final clash with France full of confidence, but the French, with Kylian Mbappe in magnificent form, provide formidable opposition.
England’s task in the World Cup quarter-finals could hardly be any tougher, as they prepare to face reigning World Champions France, at the Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday evening. Gareth Southgate’s side will be looking to progress to the semi-finals of a major tournament for the third time in a row, however, they will come up against a side who are many people’s favourites to win the trophy.
The French may have gone into the tournament missing current Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba through injury, but they possess huge strength in depth, and in Kylian Mbappe they have one of the worlds’ best and most in-form players.
However, England have impressed too, and under Southgate they have an excellent record in major tournaments. Many neutrals feel that the winners of this tie have a great chance of going on to win the tournament.
The last match between the two sides was a friendly in June 2017, which France won 3-2. The group stages of Euro 2012 was the last time they met in a tournament, where the game ended 1-1. The last meeting in the World Cup Finals was in the group stages of the 1982 World Cup where a brace from Bryan Robson, the first after only 27 seconds, and a close-range finish from Paul Mariner saw England triumph 3-1.
England put their indifferent form of the summer and autumn behind them in the early stages of the competition, with comfortable victories over Iran and Wales in the group stage, and an impressive victory over Senegal in the round of 16.
Although they were disappointing in their goalless draw against the United States Southgate’s side managed to come through to claim a point. The Three Lions have looked full of goals, eight different players have hit the net, with Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford both having scored three times.
In goal Jordan Pickford´s distribution has been impressive, and he has produced big saves when required, at the back Harry Maguire has confounded the critics with some excellent displays. Jude Bellingham has been outstanding in midfield, Jordan Henderson and Phil Foden have played well, while Harry Kane has led the line well and has created a number of chances, the England skipper having three assists to his name.
However, as encouraging as the win over Senegal was, England made an indifferent start to the game. Maguire and John Stones were guilty of giving the ball away at times, and had Senegal punished these errors it could have been a very different outcome. Southgate and his players will be aware of this and will know that they must make a tighter start against the French.
France cruised through their opening two group games before suffering a shock defeat to Tunisia, where Didier Deschamps rested several of his first-choice players. They eased past Poland with a convincing 3-1 victory to set up the quarter final clash with England.
Kylian Mbappe has been France’s key player, with five goals and two assists. Apart from these bald statistics, Mbappe’s pace, skill and strength have consistently stretched opponents, getting France up the pitch and creating space for others.
Mbappe’s threat has been maximised by unselfish and intelligent play from Antoine Griezmann and Adrien Rabiot, and by the way Olivier Giroud has led the line. Giroud has scored three times in the tournament, becoming his country´s record scorer with 52 goals, ahead of former Arsenal star Thierry Henry.
It will be interesting to see how England line up and whether there is a specific plan in place to counter Mbappe. A combination of Aston Villa’s Matty Cash at right-back with Jakub Kaminski dropping back from midfield actually handled Mbappe quite well in the clash with Poland but the PSG star still came out of the game with two goals and an assist.
It is likely that Kyle Walker will stay in the side as his pace will be essential against Mbappe, though it is possible Southgate could revert to a back three, with Walker as the right-sided central defender and the tactically astute Kieran Trippier at right wing-back, in order to subdue France´s main threat.
However, focussing too much on one opponent against a side like France could leave England open in other areas and, given how England have played, there is an argument for sticking with the 4-3-3 that has served them well and being confident that they can cause France problems.
Bellingham´s driving runs and excellent allround play have helped England win the midfield battle in previous games and he has been well supported by Declan Rice and Henderson, while Foden, Kane and Saka have enough movement and quality to threaten most sides.
Although Deschamps’side are full of quality there are areas which England feel they can exploit. While Jules Kounde is an excellent defender, he is possibly more comfortable as a centre-back than at right-back and this may be an area to target.
Despite the work-rate of Rabiot, France’s willingness to leave Mbappe up field can also give a slight defensive weakness on their left. All in all, it promises to be a fantastic clash between two of the in-form teams at the tournament.
England have clearly improved over the last four years, but in Russia they ended up in the easier half of the draw. Should they prevail against the French, another semi-final appearance will have been thoroughly merited.
England play France in the World Cup Quarter-Final at the Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday December 10 at 7pm.
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