2022 World Cup expert picks, odds for France vs. England quarterfinal

France and England demolished their opponents in the Round of 16 at this World Cup. While those matches may not have had much drama, it does set the stage for a marquee matchup between two very talented teams playing well.

France is favored, but not by much against this English team. Both teams were among the pre-tournament favorites and are still in the top four favorites to win the World Cup.

France vs. England

Kickoff time: Saturday 2 p.m. ET/7 p.m. GMT

Venue: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor

How they got here:

France

• 4-1 W vs. Australia
• 2-1 W vs. Denmark
• 0-1 L vs. Tunisia
• 3-1 W vs. Poland (Round of 16)

England

• 6-2 W vs. Iran
• 0-0 D vs. USA
• 3-0 W vs. Wales
• 3-0 W vs. Senegal (Round of 16)

All odds are from BetMGM. for live odds. 

Both teams have had multiple dominant attacking performances already at this World Cup. England’s nine goals were tied for the most in the group stage, only matched by Spain, and followed up with three against Senegal on Sunday. France put in four against Australia in its opening group match and had three more in a rout of Poland in the first knockout match.

One difference is that France is yet to have a clean sheet. The French have given up one goal in each of their four matches so far, although it was an almost entirely rotated squad against Tunisia, and Poland scored on a penalty kick on the last kick of the game.

England’s defense has been solid, only allowing two goals through four matches. Those two goals came when the match against Iran was well in hand. After being under much criticism, Harry Maguire has been dominant in the air and helped England’s back line post three shutouts.

However, defending the likes of the U.S. and Senegal isn’t anything like defending Kylian Mbappe and co. Mbappe had two rocket shots find the net against Poland and the 23-year-old already has five goals.

Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate is deciding which in-form attacking players he will start. Marcus Rashford has three goals but didn’t start against Senegal. Bukayo Saka also has three goals and scored on Sunday. Harry Kane scored his first of the tournament against Senegal.

The number of attacking options on both sides is staggering and could make for a fun match.

England is looking to make back-to-back World Cup semifinals for the first time ever. France, the defending champions, made back-to-back semifinals in 1982 and 1986 and made the World Cup in three of the past six tournaments.

England is 2-0 against France in World Cups, winning in the group stage in 1966 and 1982.

If stadium familiarity has any value, England played against Senegal in the same venue as this match. France hasn’t played at Al Bayt Stadium yet.