Everything is pointing towards a massive England – France showdown in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar. Everything apart from Poland and Senegal. Both football giants need to overcome their Top 16 opponents first, and while current world champions are facing the weakest remaining team, England will have to sweat a bit more in order to arrange a France matchup in days to come. The Albion is facing the most serious opponent in the tournament so far, even thou that we could argue that Europe-based USA players were also strong enough in their goalless group draw.Senegal coach Cisse unwell ahead of England World Cup clashSenegal poses a serious issue for Gareth Southgate, even thou they are without Sadio Mane, who was injured in its last Bayern game before the international break. Among Aliou Cisse’s recruits are some interesting (and dangerous) players, who could cause problems for England. Iliman Ndiaye has a fairytale story, as he played in the English fifth-team club Boreham Wood until 2019, when Sheffield United signed him and he is now a regular in the Blades first 11 and played great for Senegal so far in the tournament. Another familiar face is the team’s captain and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who scored in the crucial Ecuador game, and he is paired with PSG’s Abdou Diallo. And of course, there is Edouard Mendy, the Champions League winner with Chelsea and FIFA’s best goalkeeper in 2021. Add the lighting quick Watford winger Ismaila Sarr, who nearly signed for Manchester United and Newcastle this offseason and you see while Gareth Southgate has to be very careful in preparing for this game.Once a “future Messi”, Iliman couldn’t afford train tickets – but now he’s playing for the Teranga Lions in QatarAs you can imagine, the whole England has some advice for the national team coach, and Wayne Rooney is one them. In his column for Sunday Times, former England international (53 goals in 120 appearances) pointed out to the obvious fact – that England had too many exits in the early stages of the European and world tournaments.“I played in five knockout matches for England and we only won one – against Ecuador at the 2006 World Cup. Our exit against Iceland at Euro 2016 was the biggest example of what can go wrong. When we went 2-1 down after 18 minutes we didn’t recover and with about 30 minutes to go we panicked, changed how we played, gambled too early and lost our discipline and shape. Once you do that against a team that’s stubborn and hard to beat, like Iceland were, there is no way you are going to get back in it” warns Rooney.🦁 are coming | 🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/8XBLHntuSN— Football Senegal (@FootballSenegal) December 1, 2022 But, the former Manchester striker also said he believes in the team which will learn from its mistakes after a devastating loss in the Euro 2022 final against Italy. And speaking of that team, Sky Sports predicted that Bukayo Saka will return to the starting 11, which means that either Phil Foden or Marcus Rashford will remain on the bench. Harry Kane will lead the attack once again, hoping to finally score in this tournament. An interesting data shows that England captain last time scored from open play and not from the penalty spot over a year ago – 15.11.2011 in the World Cup qualifier against San Marino, which Albion won 10-0.• England have not won any of their last ten matches on ITV in normal time• 19% win rate in their last 16 games on ITV• Since 1996 there’s a 39% win rate on ITV, compared to 68% on the BBC The curse is real and needs to be taken seriously. England play on ITV tonight! 😤🏴 pic.twitter.com/5qjQJcuthU— SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 4, 2022 Apart from the sporting side, let’s not forget the economic boost for England which will happen due to the World Cup games. The whole country is preparing for the Senegal match and Daily Mail revealed that the fans will drink around 15 million pints tonight and spend around 25 million euros in British pubs. And off course, we won’t finish this report without a proper English tradition, in this case not a good one. Tonight’s game will be displayed in Britain by ITV. When it comes to the World Cup, the Three Lions have won just two of their 15 World Cup matches on ITV (since 1998) – compared with an astounding 12 out of 16 on the BBC. Will it count tonight?QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP ROUND OF 16Sunday18:00: (1.35) France (5.30) Poland (10.0)22:00: (1.60) England (3.80) Senegal (7.25)
