England versus France: A battle of the Equals!

No greater than or lesser than

Take a closer look at the France and England teams in this World Cup and you’d be surprised at the enormous similarities they have.

Both nations have the most balanced squads by far in this tournament, a perfect mixture of youth and ‘experienced youth’. Both are witnessing their golden generation take charge after a few years of dismal spells at the international level. Both have great coaches whose playing styles have clearly worked in their favour. Yes, the results speak for themselves: the 2018 World Cup for France and a silver medal for England in the 2020 Euros.  

In killer form

Both teams have scored a lot in this campaign. England has managed some of the highest-scoring wins in this tournament. In the recent back-to-back three nil wins over Wales and Senegal are good demonstrations from Southgate’s men who appear to be resolute in their desire to finally take the ‘Cup home’.

They may however face some obstacles, with the most immediate one being a 23-year-old named Kylian Mbappe (who has already outscored both Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup). He has scored five goals in this edition to take his tally to 9 goals, which the ‘GOAT’ Lionel Messi has managed to score in five World Cups spanning his career.

Winning mentality

With France’s star-studded team securing the 4-1 win over Australia and the 3-1 win over Poland, they have found the required momentum needed to go all the way. But the surprising defeat to Tunisia, exposing the weaknesses in their defense, might be a chink in the armour that the ‘Three Lions’ (England National football team) would try to exploit.

 

As a majority of the world shoulders Les Blues (France’s national team) to have the higher win probability because of them having a squad more in sync but there may be another perspective to that. France has certainly learned from their defeat to Tunisia but it has also given them a bout of self-doubt. Their opponents England however have not tasted defeat in their campaign yet. This might give them the confidence to not only take on the defending World Champions in full force but also oust them from the cup.

The defenders will win you the game!

France’s attackers Kyliam Mbappe, Olivier Giroud are in top form. So are England’s Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Harry Kane.

France has not yet fully utilised Antione Griezmann who has been doing some credible defensive work in this World Cup. The French No 7 can be the Trojan horse as he is more than capable of making a difference with his dazzling left-footed runs and sharp headers. The midfield too is very creative and versatile with Rabiot who has been putting in some terrific headers. Tchouameni and Camavinga too are having a good run in this cup.

The English midfield also finds excellent playmakers in Bellingham and Henderson. And finally in Hugo LLoris and Pickford, both the teams find solid goalkeepers for both the ninety minutes battle and should a penalty situation ever arrive.  

The real battle therefore will be between the defenders, between Maguire, Walker, Shaw and Kounde, Varane and Saliba. It is their performance that has to be the most accurate, the most powerful, and absolutely fearless.