FIFA World Cup: England vs France, Preview and prediction

England's last-16 match against Senegal could not have gone any better. After struggling to pass between the Africans' strong pressing lines for the first half-hour, Jordan Henderson's tidy finish turned the tide, and when Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden combined to set up Harry Kane's first goal, the tie was all but over. 

With Bukayo Saka's brilliant second-half finish and a third consecutive clean sheet, England enter this crucial encounter full of confidence.

France's demolition of Poland on Sunday was equally magnificent, with Olivier Giroud's precise first-half finish allaying French worries by becoming the country's all-time leading scorer with his 52nd international goal. 

The second half was the Kylian Mbappe show, as he added two stunning goals to his first-half assist to put himself in front of the race for the Golden Boot, while Poland's late penalty was meaningless to everyone but Robert Lewandowski.

France have won all nine World Cup matches that Mbappe has started, and his offensive partner Giroud - who has three goals in Qatar - might equal a record set by 38-year-old Roger Milla, who is the first player 36 years of age or older to score four goals in a single World Cup.

England appear to be a handful for anyone with the ball, and they have the pace and creative flair to test the French defence. Much will hinge on how England defends in possession, particularly how they deal with Mbappe. 

Kyle Walker may be able to match his pace, but he is unlikely to be able to contain him on his own, therefore we may see a more defensive England set-up as they double up down the right. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hugo Lloris thinks England is ready 🏆<br><br>🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇫🇷 Which team will progress to the Semi-Final? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIFAWorldCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIFAWorldCup</a></p>&mdash; FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/1601513301502005248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Quarter-finals are often difficult to predict, and this one is no exception, but let's hope it's won by a spectacular goal rather than on penalties.

Predicted lineup

England: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Bellingham, Rice, Henderson, Saka, Kane, Foden.

France: Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud.