Football

World Cup 2022: France to triumph in one-sided affair against England in quarter-finals

England and France lock horns in the quarter-finals with three strikes against their rivals. Both sides were early tournament favourites and one of them will be packing their bags for an early return flight home.

Declan Rice

While the English kept a clean sheet against Senegal, France conceded from a late Robert Lewandowski penalty. Former Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham defender, William Gallas, has clear conviction ahead of the star-studded knockout affair and is backing Les Bleus to progress at the Three Lions’ expense.  

Gallas is in a confident mood as he believes France has all the weapons to blunt Gareth Southgate’s men. Despite having words of appreciation for the Premier League stars, the retired defender opined that English players will not make the French squad. 

West Ham star, Declan Rice was praised by the once-troubled defender. Gallas believes the holding midfielder’s work is going unnoticed and should get more praise for his thankless job on their path to the quarter-finals. 

With Raheem Sterling returning home early due to an armed robbery at his residence, Harry Kane is leading the attack with young Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden. The English attack does not pose Les Bleus much trouble and the match will be decided in other areas of the pitch. 

Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante were ruled out of the Qatar extravaganza. However, Edouardo Camavinga and Adrian Rabiot have not made their absence felt. It was the latter who has earned Gallas’ endearment and can tackle their opposing numbers on his own.

“I would only take France’s starting XI because, although England has some quality players, especially in midfield, France have Adrien Rabiot so it wouldn’t be good if I chose any England players in my team,” Gallas told Genting Casino.

“No one scares me in this England team. I’m not scared about one player, but Declan Rice is England’s squad and no one is really speaking about him – he’s unbelievable. He does the same thing with West Ham and I don’t know why he’s still there. For a long time, I’ve not seen a midfielder like him – he’s strong, powerful and technically he’s unbelievable.

“I’m more scared about England’s midfield three than just one player. Pickford is a good player, but he hasn’t played for a big club yet. I’m talking about the top five teams in the league and Everton isn’t near that.”

Mbappe will not be easy to subdue

Kyllian Mbappe

Didier Deschamps has his engine running as his tried and tested attacking lineup continues to deliver. Under his tutelage, Olivier Giroud has become France’s all-time top scorer while Antoine Griezmann has not missed an international meet for 70 successive affairs. 

However, the star in this attacking trident remains Kylian Mbappe. The PSG forward is on course for the Golden Boot with five goals to his name. He was the destroyer in chief against Poland, scoring twice and supplying an assist. 

Gallas believes England will have to tweak their system to tame the former Monaco star. He opined that Kyle Walker will need assistance on the flank as Mbappe will only need a moment to decide the battle in his favour.

“Kylian Mbappe is a clever boy and he’s faced Kyle Walker before and I think he’ll find the solution to win that battle. For the first 85 minutes, Kyle Walker could be on top in the battle but maybe in the last five minutes, Kylian can score the winner at any time and everyone will say he won the battle [against Walker].”


Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!