Quarter Final Performance Strategy, Style, Form & Player Stats England vs France, World Cup 2022

 Average positions, shot maps, areas to exploit, attacking thirds for and against; player stats, running speeds and distances, ball carrying and average ages; passing styles and exchanges, pressing data, players ranked for form; odds to progress to semi-finals; is Mbappe or Walker faster?

England face France in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday – but how do the teams’ tactics, styles, players and form compare ahead of the blockbuster clash?

World-stage pedigree and stakes

The winner of England vs France will progress to a semi-final match-up against Portugal or Morocco with the victor of those four teams going on to face either Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands or Croatia in the World Cup final at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.

France are the reigning world champions and, in modern history, reached the quarter-finals stage in 2014, lost to Italy in the 2006 final and beat Brazil to win the 1998 tournament on home soil.

England endured regression in successive World Cups after reaching the last eight at the 2006 tournament in Germany. After losing to Germany in the last 16 four years later, they suffered a humiliating group-stage exit at Brazil in 2014 under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson – who stepped aside when his contract expired following upset to Iceland in the round of 16 at Euro 2016

Sam Allardyce took the reins but left the role after merely one game in charge following a newspaper sting – with Gareth Southgate taking the helm on a caretaker basis but assuming the role on a permanent basis four games later.

The former England defender steered them to their first semi-final stage at the World Cup in 28 years but lost 2-1 to Croatia, before guiding his side to the Euro 2020 final – played in 2021 due to the Covid-19 crisis – and losing the penalty shootout 3-2 against Italy.

Which team is in better form?

England qualified for the knockout stages with seven points after beating Wales 3-0 in their final group game, having drawn 0-0 with the USA and beating Iran 6-2 in their opener.

World Cup – Group B

Pos.		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts	Form
1	England	3	2	1	0	7	7	WDW
2	USA	3	1	2	0	1	5	DDW
3	IR Iran	3	1	0	2	-3	3	LWL
4	Wales	3	0	1	2	-5	1	DLL

The Three Lions cruised past Senegal in the round of 16 with a second-successive 3-0 victory after enduring a tricky opening 30 minutes. In total, Southgate’s side have scored 12 goals and conceded only twice.

World Cup – England results

Nov 21
FT	England	6	v	2	IR Iran
Nov 25
FT	England	0	v	0	USA
Nov 29
FT	Wales	0	v	3	England
Dec 4
FT	England	3	v	0	Senegal
Dec 10
19:00	England		v		France

France guaranteed their spot in the round of 16 after just two group games following a 4-1 win over Australia and a 2-1 win against Denmark. Therefore, Didier Deschamps made nine changes to his starting XI for the final group game but suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Tunisia.

World Cup – Group D

Pos.		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts	Form
1	France	3	2	0	1	3	6	WWL
2	Australia	3	2	0	1	-1	6	LWW
3	Tunisia	3	1	1	1	0	4	DLW
4	Denmark	3	0	1	2	-2	1	DLL

The world champions comfortably beat Poland 3-1, thanks to Olivier Giroud and two goals from Kylian Mbappe. In total, France have scored nine goals and shipped four across their four games.

Attacks analyzed

Goal sources

England have scored a tournament-topping 12 goals – level with Portugal – while France rank third out of the remaining sides with nine to date.

Southgate’s side have been ruthless in front of goal, scoring their haul from just 21 shots on target and doubling their expected-goals ratio – while no other side has scored more from open play.