England vs France: Three Lions brace for World Cup crunch match as fans set to sink nearly 100m pints this weekend
10 December 2022, 15:14 | Updated: 10 December 2022, 16:20
England will take on world champions France in the quarter finals of the World Cup after the Three Lions advanced with a comfortable win over Senegal.
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Gareth Southgate's side saw off the African champions 3-0 in the last 16, with goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.
Meanwhile, France dispatched Poland 3-1 with a brace from talisman Kylian Mbappe to bring the favourites a step closer to retaining the trophy.
England fans have flooded into Doha with eight thousand Three Lions fans expected to be in the Al Bayt stadium for the match this evening.
Back home, pub-goers are set to pack into boozers across the country, with fans expected to sink close to 100 million pints over the weekend.
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As England face by far their toughest test yet, some venues to watch the game are already fully booked.
Today, fans are expected to knock back 28million pints as they cheer on Southgate's side, thought to be six million more than when the Three Lions knocked Senegal out of the tournament last week.
According to analysts, fans watching from their sofas are expected to drink at least 50 million pints, with 12 million being served at bars tomorrow.
Kyle Walker is expected to start, with hopes that his pace will help contain the threat of Mbappe.
Walker said he wouldn't "roll out the red carpet" for the PSG superstar, but stressed that Les Bleus have other dangerous players they need to be alive to.
"I think the game's not England vs Mbappe, it's England vs France," the City defender said on Wednesday.
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"We respect that he is a good player in good form, but I am not going to roll out a red carpet for him and tell him to go and score.
"I'm representing my country at the quarter-final in a World Cup, it's do or die really. If we lose, we go home. He's not going to stand in my way of winning a World Cup for my country."
Southgate is expected to stick with the 4-3-3 formation that has proved successful in the tournament so far and name an unchanged team.
"The biggest thing for me in the game is going to be our mentality," the England boss said. "We'll of course be tactically prepared.
"But on these nights you've got to have men that stand up and take on the challenge. That's the bit that we've got to prove to people.
"We've had some outstanding nights and the next game is always the most important.
"It's against a good level of opponent, one we're ready for. One, if you'd asked me four years ago were we quite ready, I'm not sure.
"Now I feel differently about that, and that's because we've got evidence over a long period of results.
"Historically we have always talked well, but the evidence wasn't there. Now we've got more evidence and we've got to go and nail this type of game now."
