England vs France prediction: WORLD: World Cup – Play Offs betting tips on match 2022-12-09 19:00.
The World Cup quarter-finals conclude with a heavyweight clash between old rivals England and France and although they first squared off in 1923, this is just their third meeting at a World Cup and the first since 1982. England won both of those meetings by a two-goal margin, but with just one win across the last eight H2Hs (D2, L5), it seems a stern challenge awaits Gareth Southgate’s side.
The Three Lions overcame an uncertain start against Senegal to win 3-0 in the last-16, with Harry Kane’s first goal of the tournament and the performance of Jude Bellingham particular highlights. It marked England’s third consecutive clean sheet (W2, D1), prompting similarities to be drawn with last year’s run to the European Championship final, which was underpinned by defensive solidity.
The emergence of Bellingham and the performances of Phil Foden and Bukayo Sako have pushed England on from last summer’s tournament and ahead of the quarter-finals, no team has managed to better England’s 12 goals scored in this World Cup. However, manager Southgate knows that those goals mean nothing yet as he insists England must find their “highest possible level” for this clash.
France booked their last-eight spot thanks to a 3-1 win over Poland, with Kylian Mbappé bagging a brilliant brace to extend his lead in the Golden Boot standings, so reports suggesting he may be an injury doubt after missing French training on Tuesday are concerning. However, they’ve already dealt with the absence of Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and N’golo Kanté among others, with Olivier Giroud stepping up to become the all-time leading scorer for Les Bleus (52 goals) with his opener against the Poles.
A 1-0 group-stage defeat to Tunisia showed the reigning World champions are fallible though, particularly if they suffer any more injuries. Manager Didier Deschamps will be hoping whoever he has available will do the business here as they bid to make it six World Cup knockout wins in a row, after confirming that his players are still “hungry” to prolong their stay in Qatar.
Players to watch: Kane’s goal against Senegal was his 11th in major tournament finals, putting him ahead of all other Englishmen. Meanwhile, France will hope their lucky charm Giroud can strike again given they have won the last ten games in which he has netted.
Hot stat: England are the only team yet to collect a yellow card at this World Cup.
World Cup trivia: Bellingham is just the eighth player to be included in an England World Cup squad while playing for a non-British club.