It is the Round of 16, and four teams have already progressed to the quarterfinals. Defending champion France have reached the quarterfinal after defeating Poland by a 3-1 margin. Three hours later, England qualified for the quarterfinals as they beat Senegal, the African Champion, at Al Bayt Stadium. As a result, England and France will face each other in the quarterfinal of the FIFA World Cup.
Head to Head
England have strong records against the world champion France. They faced each other 33 times. But, England won the most. The Three Lions have won 17 games and lost nine. The remaining five meetings were tied. Furthermore, England won both of their two World Cup match against France.
Players to Watch
Both England and France have many quality players in their squads. But some players can change the game anytime. Here we talked about some of those players:
Kylian Mabappe: France’s biggest weapon is Kylian Mbappe. The 23 years old is showing his class in the Qatar World Cup. He has already scored five goals in this world cup in Qatar. Kylian Mbappe has also scored more goals than some legendary players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Maradona, Luis Suarez, Zinedine Zidane, Neymar, and Rivaldo. He has the same number of goals (9) as Lionel Messi has in the World Cup.
Olivier Giroud: The France striker is like an old wine. He is flying in the Qatar World Cup at the age of 36. Olivier Giroud has already scored 3 goals in three games for France. Moreover, he has become the all-time top scorer for France, passing Thierry Henry’s record with 52 goals.
Jude Bellingham: The 19-years old English midfielder is having his first ever World Cup in his career, but he is playing like an experienced one. So far, he has started every game England has played. Bellingham scored one and registered an assist in four games. England’s manager Gareth Southgate highly praised him for his brilliant performance.
Bukayo Saka: England’s winger Bukayo Saka is running the show. He has unbelievable speed that can destroy any team. Saka already scored three goals in three matches.
There are, of course, other players who can change the game. But those players we mentioned above are like a trump card for the managers of England and France.