AL KHOR, Qatar — For England and Gareth Southgate, the real business starts now.
After a tense first 30 minutes against Senegal, the champions of Africa were dispatched with minimal fuss in the round of 16 and now comes the stage of the World Cup when the big-hitters can’t avoid each other anymore.
England’s reward for their 3-0 win at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday — earned thanks to goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka — is a quarterfinal tie against France back at the same stadium on Saturday. It’s a date with Kylian Mbappe, having the tournament “of his dreams” with five goals in four games, but also with history.
Because if England are to go any further they will have to do something they have never done before — win a knockout game against a major nation away from Wembley Stadium.
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Going deep into tournaments isn’t new for Southgate after reaching the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and the final of the European Championships in 2021.
But both times the draw opened up, allowing England to reach the last four in Russia by beating Colombia and Sweden before eventually losing to Croatia. The other side of the bracket included Portugal, Argentina, Brazil and eventual winners France.
It was a similar story at the Euros, when England ended up in a bracket alongside Sweden, Ukraine, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Wales and Denmark leaving Belgium, Portugal, France, Spain and Italy to battle it out on the other side.
Southgate’s team beat Germany (at Wembley) and then played Ukraine and Denmark for a place in the final, where they lost to Italy on penalties.
It is, of course, not Southgate’s fault that recent draws have been kind, but there can be little doubt that playing holders France on foreign soil is a step up on both those campaigns.
“It’s the biggest test we could face,” said Southgate. “They’re world champions. They’ve got an incredible depth of talent with outstanding individual players. It’s a fantastic challenge and a brilliant game for us to prepare for. The two quarterfinals that are already in place are historic football rivalries and great games from the past. It’s a great game for us to be involved in and test ourselves against the best.”
