World Cup: England’s Walker relishes duel with Mbappe in q-finals

AL WAKRAH, Qatar – The sight of Kylian Mbappe shifting gears on the pitch would frighten most defenders but England’s Kyle Walker – who could find himself in direct battle with the French forward

in their World Cup quarter-final on Saturday

– is not one of them.

While acknowledging that Mbappe, the leading scorer in Qatar with five goals, is “one of the best, if not the best” player in the world, Walker is looking forward to testing himself again against the 23-year-old.

The pair have locked horns previously at club level in the Champions League while playing for Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.

Speaking after England’s training session on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon at the Al Wakrah Stadium, Walker stressed that defending champions France are not a one-man team.

“The game is not England v Mbappe, the game is England v France,” he said. “We respect he’s a good player in good form but we’re not going to roll out the red carpet for him... I’m representing my country in the quarter-finals of a World Cup. It’s do-or-die, really. If you lose, you go home.”

Walker, 32, has been England’s fastest player at the World Cup – he has clocked a top speed of 34.3kmh – but that still pales in comparison to Mbappe’s quickest of 35.9kmh.

Mbappe has been deployed on the left side of an attacking trio and Walker, who has started England’s last two games as a right-back in a four-man backline, could be his direct opponent if picked again.

England boss Gareth Southgate could also opt for a back five, playing Kieran Trippier as a wing-back and Walker as a right-sided centre-back.

Either way, Walker said he would rely on his experience and “a little bit of nous” as he bids to keep Mbappe on a leash.

“No use being a speedboat without a driver,” he quipped.

When a French journalist said that Mbappe had, in an interview last year, called Walker a “rare player” who “made him suffer”, the England man remained poker-faced.

“I don’t know how to say it even more that I feel that he’s a top player, I’m not underestimating that, but we’re not playing tennis. It’s not a solo sport. It’s a team game,” he said.

He pointed to other French attackers they will have to keep an eye on, such as Olivier Giroud – who is Les Bleus’ all-time top goal scorer with 52 goals – and Ousmane Dembele.

England are no slouch when it comes to attacking talent, and Walker said their rivals should be wary of young guns like winger Bukayo Saka, 21,

and midfielder Jude Bellingham, 19.

The Three Lions are the tournament’s joint top scorers with 12 goals from four games.

Walker said: “They’ve had this courage to play for England that probably many of us didn’t have when we were at that age. They’re fearless and they go in and express themselves. I feel that we have to pay a big compliment to the manager for allowing them to do that.”

The injection of fresh talent and experience since Russia 2018 has propelled the standard of the England side to “another level”, he added.

They had reached the semi-finals before being knocked out in extra-time by Croatia. England then reached the final of the 2020 European Championship, but lost on penalties to Italy.

“I’m not saying that (the England side in) Russia was a bad standard but I feel that we, as a team, were a little bit inexperienced in big games,” he said.

The high-stakes match against France, he added, gives the Three Lions a chance to send a message as

they hope to lift their second World Cup after 1966.

“It’s a great opportunity to put a stamp down to say we are a good team and we can do great things,” he said. “It would ultimately give us the belief that we can go on and win this.”