England vs France Tonight, Lineups, Head to Head, Stats and Prediction 1-2
The last quarter-final match in the 2022 World Cup, which will be held tomorrow early Sunday at the Al Bayt Stadium, is a heavyweight meeting between the two giants of the world and Europe who also own two of the top five professional football leagues in the world.
Both teams are at the same level of confidence. France is because the defending champion and has a deadly predator in Kylian Mbappe, while England is because it is one of the deadliest teams that have so far scored 12 goals in the 2022 World Cup.
England, who were stopped in the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia four years ago, are now confident they can win this tournament. Four years ago, England, who fielded young, inexperienced players, were eliminated via extra time by Croatia.
Now the squad under Gareth Southgate's care has turned more mature, more integrated and more clinical which makes them confident they can repeat the success of the 1966 World Cup they won.
Last year at Euro 2022 the same squad made it to the final where they lost to Italy on penalties. Their captain, Harry Kane, believes they will be more successful this time around than a year ago even if they are facing reigning champions France.
“I feel the belief has been built and created over the last four or five years. We entered this tournament believing we could win it," Kane said.
England national team coach Gareth Southgate himself said the experience the team had gone through over the last four years was an important point that taught the squad about how football should be played.
“We have to go through various ways in order to win every game. Mentality is key, belief and mentality that we deserve to be there. We are ready to play France for a semi-final spot," said Southgate.
France coach Didier Deschamps himself said his team would be careful to face England, especially because their opponents have players who are good at executing counter-attacks and set pieces.
Deschamps, who won the World Cup with France both as a player and as a coach, admits that he sees that England does not have many weaknesses. But he convinced his team that England had a few weak points.
“Speed is often a determining factor. When you are fast, your opponent has less time to design his game. But you need more than just speed to score goals,” said Deschamps
"England have been very strong in transition where over half of their goals have been on quick counter-attacks."
The spotlight in this fight will be on how Kylian Mbappe overcame full-back Kyle Walker.
"I believe England are ready to tame him, but Kylian is in a position to make the difference," said Deschamps.
"Even in his last match when he wasn't at his best, he was decisive (by scoring twice in France's 3-1 win against Poland)," said Deschamps.
But this French coach doesn't only have Mbappe because he also has a collection of players who are just as dangerous as Mbappe. The winner of this match will face Portugal or Morocco in the semifinals.
England vs France line-up prediction
- England (4-3-3): Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson; Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, Phil Foden
- France (4-2-3-1): Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe; Olivier Giroud
Match scenario
When two giant teams face each other with the possibility of one team deploying three attackers and the other team deploying a single spearhead layered by three deadly wingers, what will result is a fierce battle that can generate many chances but only a few to capitalize on.
This is because both France and England are teams that rely heavily on balance that their deadly attack must be supported by a tough and strong defense.
This is not just a battle between England's attacking trio of Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and Phil Foden against a formidable build in France's defense led by Raphael Varane.
Because this is also the battle for how the England defender quartet consisting of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw stopped the explosive maneuvers of Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud in attacking the Three Lions goal.
This is also specifically a battle between I kill France in Kylian Mbappe and one of the best right-backs in the world, Kyle Walker.
Walker's ability to deal with Mbappe's quick punctures, which are mostly the top terror factor in the French squad, is the key to winning this fight.
It was almost the same as how Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden were faced by two French full-backs, Jules Kounde and Theo Hernandez.
This is truly a battle between very tight lines of play that involves not only the reputation and pride of the teams, but also the personal reputations of the players of the two teams.
Stats and head to head
The England national team has so far led the way in the 31 previous meetings between the two teams as England have won 17 times while France have only won nine times. Yet 10 of those British wins came before 1950.
The two teams have met twice in the World Cup finals. England won 2-0 in the group phase of the 1966 World Cup which they eventually won, while France replied 3-1 when eliminating England in the group stage of the 1982 edition.
The England national team has scored 12 goals from four matches in the 2022 World Cup so far which is the same number as when they reached the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup.
Kylian Mbappe has scored five goals in four games to surpass his performance at the 2018 World Cup which France won.
Harry Kane overtook Gary Lineker as England's all-time leading goalscorer at the World Cup thanks to his goal against Senegal which took him to 11 goals in total. Having already amassed 52 goals for England in various competitions, Kane is only one goal short of equaling the all-time England goalscoring record held by Wayne Rooney.
France are the first defending champions to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup since Brazil in 2006.
Score Predictions
Predictions, It looks like the England vs France match will continue into the Penalty shootout, and France will likely win.
