World Cup Quarter-Final preview: Can England make it to a second semi-final in a row?

In a World Cup of upsets, goals galore and rising legends, England have made it to another quarter-final. They face France and, if emerging victorious, will come up against the winner of Morocco v Portugal.

We preview the mouth-watering action below.

Morocco v Portugal

The third of the four quarter-finals is between underdogs Morocco and one of the pre-tournament favourites, Portugal.

Defeating Spain on penalties, Morocco surprised the world by progressing to the quarter-finals as the last remaining African side in the tournament. Their opposition Portugal were equally surprising in their round of 16 tie, beating Switzerland 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement Goncalo Ramos.

The favourites to progress to the semi-final and face either France or England are Portugal, who have odds of 4/6 to win the game. Their strength across all corners of the pitch and star names of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and now Goncalo Ramos should be too strong for the Moroccan side, who have done very well to get as far as they have.

Morocco’s odds of 9/2 do look quite inviting though, especially considering how well they have played in Qatar and some of the players they have themselves. Hakim Ziyech and Bernardo Silva both to assist a goal is 18/1. The two playmakers will likely greatly influence the game and are 6/1 and 23/5 to score at any time, respectively.

As we have seen with two of the knockout games already, the game could well go to extra time, and Portugal are the favourites to win if it does at 9/1, with Morocco at 20/1. However, if the game was to go to penalties, which Morocco have already been successful in once, the north African side share the same odds as their opposition to win at 11/1.

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England v France

The more anticipated of the two fixtures in England, the Three Lions take on the reigning World Champions France in perhaps the biggest clash of the tournament so far.

England have played arguably their best tournament since Gareth Southgate has managed them and, by all accounts, have one of the strongest squads left in Qatar. With their numerous talented attacking options, solid defence and very well-rounded midfield, England find themselves as underdogs but maybe closer in terms of odds than they have ever been to France.

Southgate’s men are 21/10 to win, with Kylian Mbappe and co priced at 7/5, though England fans will believe the tournament’s highest scorers have more than enough to take on a side missing three of their best players.

England have scored 12 goals in Qatar thanks to Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and a number of their other attacking players and looking at their odds to score at any time; it is easy to see why the French will have a lot to fear. Kane is only a slightly bigger price than Mbappe to score at anytime – 2/1 rather than 15/8 – with Callum Wilson next in line at 11/4. Rashford and Saka come in next at 18/5 and 9/2, with Olivier Giroud and Marcus Thuram next in line for the French at 5/2 and 18/5, respectively.

The game will be up and down, that is for sure and looking at the two evenly-matched sides, it is likely we will see a tough midfield fight, a battle of attrition on the wings and two goals seeing limited chances. Therefore, Kane and Mbappe, to have over two shots on target, comes in at 22/1 but offers excellent value.

Kyle Walker will have his hands full taking on Kylian Mbappe down the wing and is 9/2 to make over four tackles, something he will surely have to do for England to win the game.

In truth, it will be tough for England, but the star man of the tournament so far, Jude Bellingham, will no doubt step up to the plate and do everything in his power to get the Three Lions over the line. The rising star is 8/1 to score anytime and write himself into English football history.

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