Preview: England vs. France – team news, lineups, prediction, live stream

An error-strewn England team looked the most likely to concede in the early stages against Senegal, who did not allow the Three Lions a second to breathe with their effective pressing, but the tide soon turned when 19-year-old Jude Bellingham took the game by the scruff of the neck.

A three-game streak without conceding a goal at the World Cup does stand England in good stead, and Southgate could now become the first Three Lions manager in history to lead the team to more than one semi-final, but the most formidable of formidable foes is standing in their way.

As Kane came up with a 52nd international goal to edge closer to the England record, Olivier Giroud’s 52nd strike was enough to see the AC Milan attacker storm to the top of the France charts, as Les Bleus displayed a clinical edge that Robert Lewandowski’s Poland had no answer to.

Mbappe turned provider for Giroud to fire home the opening goal, which saw the 36-year-old overtake Thierry Henry at the summit of the men’s goalscoring list, and the former soon came up with two thunderous finishes to put the game to bed before a retaken Lewandowski penalty gave Poland a late consolation.

Callum Wilson is also nursing a minor strain but was never expected to start, and Southgate has also been handed a slight scare with Declan Rice, who missed training on Wednesday due to illness, although his ailment is unlikely to prevent him from playing on Saturday.

Many have tipped Southgate to revert to a three-man backline for the weekend, but the 52-year-old has hinted that he will stick with the tried-and-tested 4-3-3 setup that has paid dividends so far, allowing Henderson to link up with Rice and Bellingham in the midfield once more.

Over at the Bleus camp, a media frenzy was sparked when top scorer Mbappe missed training on Tuesday due to discomfort in his ankle, but it was merely a false alarm, as the 23-year-old was back on the practice pitches on Wednesday and should form part of an unchanged XI.

Incredibly, France have won all nine of their World Cup matches that Mbappe has started, and his attacking partner Giroud – who has three goals to his name in Qatar – could equal a record set by a 38-year-old Roger Milla, who to date is the only 36+ player to score four goals at a single World Cup.