World Cup: France hoping Mbappe will be enough to match England's impressive depth

DOHA – All eyes will be on Kylian Mbappe again as France take on England in a mouthwatering World Cup quarter-final on Saturday, but the defending champions must hope their lack of options from the bench will not be exposed.

Les Bleus, looking to become the first team to retain the title since Brazil in 1962, were hit hard by injuries ahead of the tournament, with midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, as well as forward Karim Benzema ruled out.

But Mbappe has been on fire in Qatar, with five goals and two assists, while Olivier Giroud has provided three goals.

“I’m sure England will have prepared to face Mbappe but he’s in a position to make a difference,” said France coach Didier Deschamps on Friday.

“Even in games where he didn’t play his best, he was still decisive. We also have other players who can do the job.”

The 54-year-old was keen to brush aside the media scrutiny on his star forward, insisting that England could pose a serious threat to their title ambitions.

“England is a team that does a lot of damage on the counter-attack. They have scored many goals in this way in the World Cup. They have a lot of quality,” he said.

“The quality they have, the ability to score goals, even from set pieces... It’s no coincidence that England will be our rival tomorrow. They are a great team.”

After wins over Australia and Denmark in their first two matches, France’s fringe players did not cover themselves in glory in a 1-0 loss to Tunisia to round out the group.

But Mbappe and Giroud returned to score the goals in their 3-1 win over Poland in the last 16.

Deschamps’ starting XI features some fearsome firepower up front with Mbappe, Giroud and Ousmane Dembele, while Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni have proved extremely reliable in midfield.

Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, has been the perfect link between the lines.

France have no problems when they are attacking, and midfielder Youssouf Fofana is confident that Mbappe will have the last laugh after England right-back Kyle Walker said he would not let the Paris Saint-Germain striker stand in his way.

“If he knows how to stop Kylian, good for him,” he said.

“But 19 other Ligue 1 teams, and others in the Champions League, have been waiting for the solution.”

At the back, however, Les Bleus have issues.

Jules Kounde is not a natural right-back and left-back Theo Hernandez is more forward-minded, which could present problems if he is pegged back by England’s attacks.

Rabiot is well aware of England’s threat in wide areas but predicted they may be more cautious than in previous games.

“They won’t take all the risks because we can also hurt them on the flanks.”

One of the strengths that has emerged through the tournament is England’s depth.

Manager Gareth Southgate has been able to shuffle his midfield and wide attackers and just about all of them have delivered.

Their tally of 12 goals has been achieved via eight players.

Southgate, however, is in a tricky position. Does he let his young attackers off the leash or bolster his defensive options?

He has hinted that he intends to force France into worrying about how to stop England’s array of attacking talent.

“There is no point going into a game like this and just covering up and sitting on the ropes.” Southgate told ITV. “We believe we can cause problems with the ball and we intend to do that. We’ve beaten some big teams.

“We know we have the experience of high-pressure nights behind us and as a team we’ve been resilient through a lot of situations, but they all prepare you for nights like this.” REUTERS, AFP