West Ham midfielder Declan Rice is confident can pull off a win against World Cup holders France in the quarter-finals.
The Three Lions go up against the winners in Russia 2018 after topping Group B in Qatar with wins against Iran (6-2) and Wales (3-0) and a goalless draw against USA. Gareth Southgate’s side booked their place in the last eight after a comfortable 3-0 victory versus Senegal.
France were one of the first teams to reach the knockout stage after victories against Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1) in their opening two Group D fixtures. But the French have been one of many victims of a shock in Qatar after losing 1-0 against Tunisia in their final group game.
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But Didier Deschamps' side had little trouble in reaching the quarter-final stage. Olivier Giroud and two goals from Kylian Mbappe, who is currently the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, put the French 3-0 up before Robert Lewandowski’s very late penalty for Poland.
Although France lost key players before the World Cup had begun, Rice admits that England still face a tough opponent in tonight’s quarter-final. “France are the current holders of the competition,” said Rice, as reported by the West Ham club website.
“They are missing some key players (Paul Pogba, Lucas Hernandez, Karim Benzema, and N'Golo Kante), but they have looked really strong [in] this tournament. These are the games you want to play in, and what an achievement and feeling it would be to knock them out.”
Rice has become a key figure in Gareth Southgate’s England squad since the West Ham midfielder made his Three Lions debut back in March 2019. The 23-year-old has started in all four games in Qatar and is expected to be named in the starting XI against France, despite missing training due to illness three days before the fixture.
Rice was involved in training on Thursday and Friday and looks set to feature alongside Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson once again, with expectations that Gareth Southgate will name an unchanged starting line-up from the win against Senegal.
“There was a lot of talk about Senegal, and we knew they had a lot of strengths. They have some really good players, a strong team - but we completely shut them down. It was a fully deserved victory,” said Rice.
“Every time we win a game, people always try to pick apart [our performance] but if it was another nation, they would be talking about how it was a masterclass. I think that was us [against Senegal]. We were on the front foot, pressed really well, and scored some great goals. It’s one game at a time, but now we can focus on France.”
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