There's never been a bigger date for one of Europe's historic rivalries. France and England clash in the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup in a matchup which should be for the ages. The names are just stellar: Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Harry Kane, Phil Foden or Harry Maguire.
Believe or not, there are not many chapters between these two teams at the World Cup level. England won 2-0 in the last game of the group stage at Wembley in 1966 and the Three Lions also got a 3-1 victory at Bilbao in the first round of Spain 1982. That's it. No more episodes and no battles in single-elimination games.
France are trying to become only the third National Team ever to hoist the trophy in back-to-back editions: Italy (1934-1938) and Brazil (1958-1962). Meanwhile, England won in 1966, but, since that moment, they haven't reached the final. Their best performances were the semifinals in 1990 and 2018. That's why this is a crucial game for Gareth Southgate and, as it turns out, there's been a two-year plan in the making to beat France.
What is England's plan to stop France and Kylian Mbappe?
According to many reports in the UK, there's been confirmed a two-year plan by England in case France became a possible rival during the World Cup. Though the tournament's draw was held many months later, Gareth Southgate and his coaching staff knew that, one way or the other, the road to the title had to go through France.
So, as a consequence, the players got the first notice of this plan just one day after their Round of 16 victory against Senegal. There was no time to lose. Tim Dittmer, the FA's head of coaching, was the person in charge of developing this strategy. Secretly, at least for the players, Dittmer followed every step of Didier Deschamps' squad. UEFA Euro, World Cup qualifiers, Nations League, club games and, of course, the last matches at Qatar.
Of course, the main focus in the analysis was Kylian Mbappe. The idea, without many details or names revealed, is supposedly to put one marquee player to contain the French star. People inside England's session said one example used was the duel between Cristiano Ronaldo and Dani Alves during their days at Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Enjoy all the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup matches from the United States through FuboTV. Click here and to take advantage of their 7-day free trial offer.
