Gary Neville says England v France is 'game of a lifetime' and players 'can enjoy' 2022 World Cup quarter-final

ByNigel Chiu

Published 05/12/2022 at 10:45 GMT

Former England international Gary Neville says Gareth Southgate’s players “won’t be able to wait” for their quarter-final match against France on Saturday. In the first huge test for Southgate, they must overcome the defending World Cup champions to reach the semi-finals, which includes the problem of dealing with Kylian Mappe. Neville is optimistic about the Three Lions’ chances.

Gary Neville believes England’s quarter-final clash with France at the 2022 World Cup is a “game of a lifetime” that the players “can enjoy”.

England’s 3-0 victory over Senegal has been rewarded with a match against the defending champions on Saturday night.

It is set to be the biggest test manager Gareth Southgate has faced at the World Cup with some of football’s superstars going head-to-head.

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“It’s a game of a lifetime,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“I think back to my own career when I played in games like that. In 2004, we played with Portugal against [Luis] Figo, in 2006 it was [Cristiano] Ronaldo.

“These games are once or twice in a lifetime opportunities. They don’t come around very often. They are big, big moments.

“I can’t wait for it, the lads won’t be able to wait for it. This is a game we can lose, they have incredible players, they are world champions, a fantastic team, so we can go and enjoy it.

“I used to think in a game like this there is less pressure than games where we play say Senegal. If we lost against Senegal, all hell breaks loose for the coach, the FA, the staff, the players.”

Change in formation for England?

One of the big questions surrounding England is whether they will stick with the 4-3-3 formation they have used throughout the tournament in Qatar, or revert to three at the back with two wingbacks.

The latter was used by Southgate in England’s 2-0 win over Germany at last year’s European Championship.

Kyle Walker is expected to play a big role up against Kylian Mbappe and Neville thinks he’s the perfect player to try and stop the French star.

“I think we’ve got the best right-back in the world to deal with Mbappe,” he said.

“In terms of physicality, pace and experience, I couldn’t think of anyone better than Kyle Walker to match Mbappe.

Kylian Mbappé

Image credit: Imago

“That’s not to say he will keep him quiet for 90 minutes because Mbappe is sensational. He’s so special.

“But we have a chance because we have a player there who can match him in certain areas.”

Sterling returns home

England could be without Raheem Sterling after it was revealed he returned to London after armed intruders broke into his family home.

It’s unknown whether Sterling will return to Qatar and Neville praised the handling of the situation.

“It [the incident] is horrific,” said Neville.

“What it tells us is very bad things happen in the world but also the way Gareth, the team, the English media deal with these things now, it’s a lot more respectful with compassion and empathy, putting football aside.

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“That didn’t always happen 20 years ago. There would have been a different reaction from all sides.

"The player may have felt they couldn’t go home. The manager and staff may have gone, ‘Well, what can you do? We have got a game to win’. The English media would have treated it differently as well.”

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