With boiling hopes of winning back-to-back Football Highest Title, the reigning champion France will step in at Al Bayt Stadium to face England on Saturday evening. Of course, fans have to wait till the full-time whistle.
The Three Lions haven’t risked their survival in knockouts against Senegal, ripping through them with a 3-0 final score. On the other hand, the defending champions put three past one against Poland, keeping their winning prospects high.
Despite losing earlier control against Senegal, the English side turned the tide after Bellingham set up a perfect scenario for Jordan Henderson, who netted the ball, scoring the opening goal in the 38th minute. Shortly after the break, Harry Kane scored the second goal in the 52nd minute, followed by Bukayo Saka’s decisive strike in the 57th minute, wrapping the crucial clash on 3-0.
While maintaining a three-game streak without conceding a goal, the English team had previously advanced to the quarterfinals eight times, been ousted by other European nations six times, and reached the semifinals only twice.
During the tournament campaign, England defeated Iran in the opening clash by 62, followed by a goalless draw against the USA and a victory over Wales by 0-3. The team left Group B with seven points, and they are still unbeatable in this event.
In contrast, Les Bleus did what they are best at, reaching the last 8 without negotiating much of their competitiveness. Against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland, they performed in a manner their opposition had no answer to. With the scoring opener named to Olivier Giroud, Mbappe didn’t lose any opportunity to link up Highest French Charts.
Notably, France advanced to the quarterfinals for the fifth time in the past seven championships and the third time consecutively. With a decent playing record, Didier Deschamps’s men are hot favorites over the Three Lions.
The French side was placed in group D alongside Australia, Tunisia, and Denmark. Of course, they started impressively, defeating Australia by 4-1 in the open match and then Denmark by 2-1 in the follow-up. However, the defending champions fell cheaply against Tunisia, losing 1-0, yet managed to acquire the top group position with six points.
With its disturbing most recent playing record, England had won only one match out of eight against France, and that’s an acute tragedy. However, the Three Lions had so much attacking potential that they would probably be sitting on the sidelines until France’s legs started to fatigue, and they took the most of the remaining advantages.
England possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Bellingham, Rice, Henderson; Saka, Kane, Foden
France possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud
