England vs France

Last summer’s Euro 2020 runners-up England and reigning world champions France go head-to-head in a mouth-watering 2022 World Cup quarter-final tie at Al Bayt Stadium.

England went from strength to strength in Group B to claim the top spot (W2, D1) before Harry Kane’s breakthrough goal in Qatar inspired them to a comprehensive 3-0 win over Senegal in the round of 16. Despite qualifying for their seventh World Cup quarter-final appearance since lifting their only title in 1966, the ‘Three Lions’ are up against history. Indeed, four of their last six participations at this stage of the tournament have fallen flat (W2, L4), while they’ve been on the losing side in six of their last eight World Cup knockout games against fellow European nations. That said, manager Gareth Southgate is the man on a mission as he looks to become the first England manager to guide the country to back-to-back World Cup semi-finals.

In the meantime, France booked tickets for the knockout stages with a game to spare, finishing top of Group D (W2, L1) to set up a routine last-16 tie against Poland. Inspired by Kylian Mbappe’s second-half brace, ‘Les Bleus’ thrashed the ‘Eagles’ 3-1 to become the first reigning champions to feature in the quarter-final of the World Cup since Brazil in 2006. At only 23, Mbappe is already a talismanic figure in his country, with France winning all nine World Cup fixtures with the PSG superstar in the starting XI. He’ll be crucial to France’s bid to build on their eye-catching eight-game form against England across all competitions (W5, D2). However, it’s worth noting that they’ve lost both previous H2H encounters against England at the World Cup by a two-goal margin.