Gareth Southgate fires England warning about quality of France

Gareth Southgate's England cruised past Senegal
Gareth Southgate's England cruised past Senegal / Sebastian Frej/MB Media/GettyImages
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Gareth Southgate has said England are relishing the chance to face holders France at the World Cup after his side beat Senegal 3-0 to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final clash - and insists that Les Bleus carry more of a threat than just Kylian Mbappe.

Goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka eased the Three Lions past Senegal, despite a tentative opening half an hour that saw the Lions of Teranga force Jordan Pickford into a couple of decent saves.

England's class eventually shone through - Jude Bellingham particularly outstanding - and their comprehensive win booked a date with France, who beat Poland 3-1 earlier in the day, on Saturday night.

Mbappe was the star of the show for France, bagging a terrific late brace, but Southgate insisted when previewing the game that Didier Deschamps' side ooze quality in other areas too and mustn't solely focus on the Paris Saint-Germain striker.

"He's (Mbappe) a world-class player and has already delivered big moments in this tournament and in previous tournaments," Southgate said. "I think [Antoine] Griezmann now has over 70 consecutive games for France and I think he's also a phenomenal player.


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"We know Olivier Giroud so well and they also have outstanding young midfield players. Everywhere you look, when we're studying France at every age group, they have incredible depth of talent at every position."

Asked about the challenge of taking on the World Cup holders, Southgate added: "They're world champions with an incredible depth of talent and outstanding individual players. They're very difficult to play against and score goals against, so it's a fantastic challenge and a brilliant game to prepare for.

"It's a great game to be involved with and to test ourselves against the very best."