Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano on who has impressed him most out of France and England

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England and France will meet in the quarter-finals of this year’s World Cup on Saturday after both securing victories yesterday.

Gareth Southgate’s side beat Senegal 3-0, not long after France earned a 3-1 win over Poland, and this now sets up a mouth-watering tie between two of the best teams in the tournament.

France won the World Cup back in 2018 and surely have a good chance of retaining the trophy this year, but Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano actually thinks England have been the more impressive team overall.

Writing exclusively for CaughtOffside, Romano suggested that France rely more on the individual brilliance of Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, who was on fire again with a stunning brace in the win over Poland.

Kylian Mbappe in action for France

England, by contrast, look more impressive as a general unit, according to Romano, who also says he is a big fan of the work done by Three Lions boss Southgate.

“What a game to look forward to between France and England – you just sense the winner of the whole competition could well come from this game,” Romano said.

“For me, England have been more impressive as a team. They have a very good approach – intelligent, patient, clinical, and Southgate is doing very well.

“But France have an incredible individual talent in Kylian Mbappe, he’s making the difference for them and can decide big games on his own.

“But to be honest, I still pick Spain as my favourite to win the World Cup!”

Spain take on Morocco tomorrow, while it’s also worth keeping an eye on other big names like Brazil and Portugal in their upcoming games over the next couple of days.

In the other quarter-final, we’ll also see Netherlands vs Argentina – another glamorous tie that looks like it could give us a potential winner of this year’s World Cup.

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