England vs France: prediction for the 2022 FIFA World Cup match

The first football match between England and France took place in 1923, but this is only their third meeting at World Cups and the first one since 1982. The Three Lions celebrated success in one out of eight previous head-to-head games, and the upcoming game will be a real test for Gareth Southgate and his charges. 

England didn't lose in the previous four games. They collected seven points in three group games and scored a total of nine goals. In the round of 16, the team got a clean-sheet victory against Senegal (3:0) and Harry Kane scored his first goal in the tournament. These results are similar to the ones England got at Euro 2020, when the team reached the final. 

Ben White has been ruled out of this game. 

The reigning world champions lost to Tunisia (0:1) at the group stage, proving that even they have bad days and make mistakes. But Les Bleus were victorious in the other two group matches and then crushed Poland (3:1) in the round of 16. Mbappe had a fantastic game and scored two beautiful goals as well as provided an assist for Giroud. That was Giroud's 52nd goal for his national team, which makes him the highest-scoring French forward in history. 

France are plagued by injuries and have to cope without many of their star players at this World Cup - Didier Deschamps didn't invite Benzema, Pogba, Kante to the team due to their injuries, and defender Lucas Hernandez got injured in France's opening game. Moreover, Mbappe missed training on Tuesday, so his appearance against England is a doubt.