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The key England vs France match-ups – as rated by our readers

England vs France: The key match-ups – as rated by our readers
England vs France: The key match-ups – as rated by our readers

England and France clash in a mouth-watering World Cup quarter-final on Saturday. But who will have more of an influence on the last-eight fixture – Kylian Mbappe or Jude Bellingham? And which team has performed better on average so far in Qatar?

Telegraph Sport's player rating tool, which was newly introduced for this tournament, allows readers to score the players from every game at the World Cup out of 10. And we have crunched the numbers from our database to assess some of the key match-ups which could define Saturday's fixture.

The future superstars

Two of the stand-out young stars in Qatar are the aforementioned Mbappe (age 23) and Bellingham (19).

Both players have been in stellar form, with the Paris Saint-Germain forward's double against Poland seeing him rated a whopping 9.1 out 10 – while according to the ratings Bellingham had his best game so far in England's last-16 win over Senegal (8.6).

However, Mbappe (7.3) edges the average rating from all of their games to this point compared to the Borussia Dortumund midfielder (7.2).

Advantage: France (just)

The top performers

Next up, we come to the top rated players from each side. After being left on the bench against the USA, there was a massive clamour for Phil Foden to start – and he has repaid the faith with a goal against Wales and two assists against Senegal.

But the Manchester City forward's average score of 7.3 is blown out of the water by France striker Olivier Giroud (7.7) who became his country's all-time leading goalscorer during this tournament.

Advantage: France

The keepers

A deep dive by goalkeeping expert John Harrison comparing the two keepers shows England No 1 Jordan Pickford has been better than Hugo Lloris this season in a number of key areas.

But our readers' ratings from the World Cup offer a different picture, with the Frenchman (6.6) pipping Pickford (6.5) – although the Everton keeper does have the best single-game rating.

Advantage: France

Average team ratings

Good news for Three Lions fans. After being outperformed in the first three categories, England come into their own when it comes to the average score of each side (6.4 vs 5.6).

However, the French score has been skewed slightly by their shock loss to Tunisia which saw the Les Bleus squad rated just 2.2 (!).

Advantage: England

England's possible XI rated

Finally, we assess the ratings of the England XI who could start this weekend (an unchanged side from the Senegal win). As mentioned previously, Foden (7.3) is the top-rated player while centre-halves Harry Maguire and John Stones (6.2) are the lowest scorers.

But if 'Slabhead' and 'the Barnsley Beckenbauer' can keep tournament top goalscorer Mbappe quiet this weekend then they can expect a healthy boost in their ratings.


Wat do you think will be the key match-ups in tomorrow's game? Join the conversation in the comments section below