When the full-time whistle is sounded at the end of Manchester United's friendly against Real Betis on Saturday evening, members of both teams are likely to dash off quickly in pursuit of the nearest television.
Following England's 3-0 win over Senegal on Sunday evening, the Three Lions will lock horns with reigning World Cup holders France in pursuit of a place in the semi-finals of this year's tournament in Qatar. Although there are still several days to go until the two sides meet, excitement levels in England are already building, ahead of what is likely to be a fascinating contest.
The United squad that has travelled to Spain for this week's warm-weather training camp, featuring two friendlies, in preparation for the Premier League campaign resuming on Boxing Day, is littered with Englishmen, such as Tom Heaton, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Brandon Williams, Charlie McNeill and Joe Hugill. Among them, however, is also a Frenchman who goes by the name of Anthony Martial.
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The striker, who celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday, was not included in France manager Didier Deschamps' plans for the tournament, despite fellow forwards Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku picking up injuries ahead of Les Blues getting the defence of their crown underway. It has meant that Martial has been forced to take up a watching brief and will once again be rooting for his international colleagues from afar on Saturday evening.
While Martial would probably love nothing more than getting one over on his English teammates at United on Saturday night, that is not going to be his main objective of United's visit to Spain. After missing a vast majority of this season so far through injury, this current pause, in truth, could not have been better timed for the Frenchman.
He has played just seven times so far this season because of a mixture of hamstring, back and Achilles injuries. To say he has been unfortunate would be an understatement.
Just prior to the pause, however, Martial, who, despite his limited game time has scored four goals and registered two assists so far this season, started back-to-back matches, starting the 4-2 Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa and 2-1 Premier League triumph over Fulham. It was the beginning of the comeback trail for the former AS Monaco man and he will be hoping to pick up where he left off after the break, with a view to avoiding any further unwanted injury setbacks.
Now that Cristiano Ronaldo is out of the picture at Old Trafford, the No.9 spot is Martial's to lose, even if he was showing far more promise than the former was in the months leading up to his United departure. Martial was brilliant in pre-season during the tour of Thailand and Australia and would have started the season as the Reds' first-choice striker had it not been for a hamstring problem.
He offers everything that Erik ten Hag wants in a striker: pace, power, an eye for goal and the ability to link the play. His role in Christian Eriksen's opener against Fulham last month proved that, meaning he should become a mainstay in the team, such is the way Ten Hag likes United to play.
The challenge for Martial now, however, is to stay fit and prove himself as a consistent source of goals. United have struggled to score goals at a rapid rate of knots so far this season and desperately need to add a striker to their ranks in the upcoming January transfer window, as they look to strengthen their chances of finishing inside the Champions League places.
But in the event of United not sourcing a new striker until the summer, Martial will be the man tasked with spearheading the attack, meaning pressure will be on him to deliver the goods on a regular basis for the rest of the season. If he can maintain his fitness, he has a strong chance of being able to do that, given how he has responded to Ten Hag's trust in him.
Therefore, it means the immediate period after the World Cup could be the biggest in Martial's United career to date. This will be his chance to be the Reds' go-to man at the top end of the pitch and prove that he can deliver the goods.
The warm-weather training camp in Spain will allow Martial to continue building-up his fitness levels ahead of the competitive action resuming just before Christmas in the Carabao Cup against Burnley. If he makes the most of this trip and comes out firing at the beginning of the restart, United might not be in such a hurry to strengthen their attack.
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