Gareth Southgate eyes unchanged England team for France in World Cup

Gareth Southgate set to name unchanged England team to face France in World Cup quarter-final, snubbing defensive 3-4-3 formation and sticking with Jordan Henderson in midfield, with Marcus Rashford on the bench

  • England are expected to stick with team that beat Senegal in the quarter-final 
  • Gareth Southgate will continue with his 4-3-3 system up against France next
  • Much of the focus has been on whether England would revert to a back five 
  • There has been criticism in the past of England reverting to a back three defence 

Gareth Southgate is set to name an unchanged team to face France in tonight’s do-or-die World Cup quarter-final.

The England boss is preparing to select the same starting XI that cruised past Senegal 3-0 in the quarter-final, meaning the team are expected to line-up with the 4-3-3 system that they have used in all four matches so far.

Southgate has shown a tendency in the past to use five at the back for matches against elite nations, and given England face the reigning world champions tonight there has been some doubt over which system the team would use.

Gareth Southgate’s team to face France looks to mirror his XI that started against Senegal


England (4-3-3): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Henderson, Rice, Bellingham; Foden. Kane, Saka.

But the likely decision to use a convention back-four allows England to name an extra attacker, in a move that appears to indicate the team will adopt an forward-thinking approach to the game.

Kyle Walker, whose battle with Kylian Mbappe down France’s left could be key towards the outcome tonight, should start at right-back.

He is expected to be joined by Harry Maguire, John Stones and Luke Shaw in defence.

Declan Rice, who has suffered from illness this week, Jordan Henderson and Jude Bellingham are in line to start in central midfield, while Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka are set to support Harry Kane in the forward positions.

‘The biggest thing for me in the game is going to be our mentality,’ the England manager 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.’

England (433): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Henderson, Rice, Bellingham; Foden. Kane, Saka.




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