Are France Beatable? – BBC Experts Have Their Say

DALLAS, USA, Jul 9 – “France are one of the most clear favourites for a World Cup tournament I have ever seen.”

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright isn’t the only one either who believes Didier Deschamps’ men are the team to beat, with pundits, fans and bookmakers largely tipping France for the title. saltysenoritaaz.com

And who could blame them?

Five games played, five games won. Fourteen goals scored, two conceded. And just once have they not hit three or more in any of their World Cup matches.

With Kylian Mbappe scoring for fun, and the likes of Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola forming a fearsome trio just behind, they will strike fear into every defence in the world.

Not to mention having the quality of Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki in reserve. Frightening.

So, with Thursday’s quarter-final against Morocco (21:00 BST) looming, BBC Sport journalists had their say on whether anyone can beat the 2018 champions and 2022 runners-up.

‘France do give teams a chance’

Ian Dennis, BBC Radio 5 Live senior football reporter

Spain are the team to beat and they’re my favourites more than France. I’ve changed my mind having seen both teams.

Spain have a greater control, defensively limit sides to few chances and are still yet to concede.

I saw all group games involving France but they don’t possess the same level of control as Spain and do give teams a chance.

Senegal should have been ahead at half-time and even an understrength Norway side created awkward moments in the first half in Boston.

I think Morocco can give them problems but lying in wait should be Spain in the last four – a repeat of the Euro 2024 semi-final that Spain won 2-1.

‘Teams will believe France can be beaten’

France have looked the most impressive team in the World Cup so far, with their array of attacking talent led by Mbappe, Olise and Dembele.

They are, however, beatable and will run into serial winners and European champions Spain in the semi-final if they both come through their quarter-finals.

Good as France are, this would represent a huge test for Deschamps’ team.

Spain are on a remarkable 35-game unbeaten streak in all competitions and simply know how to get results, as they proved with their injury-time winner against Portugal in the last 16.

And, if France do overcome Spain, they could potentially meet current World Cup holders Argentina or England in the final.

France are favourites to win the World Cup, but these sides would definitely believe they could be beaten – and let’s not forget this tournament has already proved there are no foregone conclusions.

‘Spain have every chance’

Spain have every chance of beating France, even if they have flown slightly under the radar at this World Cup.

A lot of that is because their biggest star, Lamine Yamal, has yet to reach the heights of some of the tournament’s other standout attackers as he continues his return from injury.

While other teams have relied on moments of individual brilliance, Spain have quietly impressed through their disciplined, well-structured system. In their draw against Cape Verde and four wins since they have not conceded a goal, thanks largely to the impressive centre-back partnership of teenager Pau Cubarsi and veteran Aymeric Laporte.

Spain’s use of width creates space for Lamine Yamal and enables them to generate chances, while Rodri and Pedri dominate midfield, controlling possession and dictating the tempo of the game. Spain have also beaten France in each of their past two matches. If Spain take their chances in front of goal, they can beat France.

‘The most exciting teams can fall short’

France have been by a distance the most exciting team to watch here and have played the most attractive football.

But over the years a number of those teams have gone on to fall short at World Cups. Brazil of 1982 is probably the best example, but you could throw in the Danish Dynamite team of 1986, Jurgen Klinsmann’s Germany at 2006, or the Brazilian side that hosted in 2014.

And were they to come up against Spain in the semi-final I could certainly envisage a scenario in which the reigning European champions come out on top.

‘The fear is France have more gears to find’

It’s going to require something extra special to stop this Les Bleus juggernaut from reaching a third straight World Cup final.

France have overcome a two-hour storm delay in Philadelphia, the loss of Deschamps for one match (he returned home for the funeral of his mother) and Paraguay’s ‘dark arts’ to reach the last eight.

They have been an absolute joy to watch, particularly against Sweden in the last 32 when they registered 25 attempts. The fear for their rivals is they still have another couple of gears we have not yet seen at this World Cup.

It’s not just Mbappe, Olise and Dembele – who have 20 goal involvements between them. Les Bleus have yet to fall behind.

They have conceded just twice in five games – when they were leading Senegal 3-0 and when they were 2-0 up against Norway, with Arsenal’s William Saliba and Olise’s Bayern Munich team-mate Dayot Upamecano marshalling the defence.

Who can stop France? They will meet Spain or Belgium in the semi-final if they get past Morocco. Spain, who have yet to concede, will be a huge test.

Les Bleus were frustrated by Paraguay before finding a way to win – and I suspect Deschamps’ side will have too much firepower for Spain, while their strength in depth from the bench is eye-watering.

‘Three Lions can stop Les Bleus’

France have looked liked the tournament favourites from early on in this World Cup.

They have an excellent team but it is not flawless.

It will end up being a France and England World Cup final and the Three Lions will be the side that manages to stop Les Bleus.

England’s midfield of Declan Rice, Elliot Andersen and Jude Bellingham have the ability to physically impose themselves on France’s midfield.

Thomas Tuchel’s team have also shown that they have the resilience to deal with tough situations after their impressive 3-2 win over Mexico in Mexico City.

To beat France, England will have to produce a performance filled with grit and if they do meet and do it, then England will have achieved the greatest success in the game.

Could France’s greatest strength be a flaw?

It’s clutching at straws to try to look for France weaknesses because at times you watch open-mouthed in amazement when the front four is in full flow.

But could their greatest strength also turn into a flaw when they meet another of the favourites?

Switching Olise to the number 10 position has made France much more dangerous. Against an elite side though, could they be overrun in midfield, off the ball, when they have such an attack minded footballer playing ahead of a midfield two?

Will Olise track back enough or be willing to do the consistent pressing needed in the centre of the park when France are facing a team that won’t let them dominate possession?

Perhaps Morocco will target that area of the pitch and of course, in a potential semi-final, a Spain team that loves possession would certainly put that to the test.

‘Don’t rule out Morocco’

France are clearly a tough prospect for any side right now with Mbappe in form in attack and Olise arguably the best player at the World Cup so far.

But we are at the business end of the tournament now and anyone can beat anyone at this stage.

Make no mistake it will be tough for Morocco against them but let’s remember that the Atlas Lions were World Cup semi-finalists just four years and arguably have got better since then.

Morocco have shown they can defend well and frustrate their opponents, and if they can do that to France then why can’t they win? I wouldn’t rule them out of going all the way, either.

LONDON, United Kingdom, Jul 9 – Manchester United are close to signing veteran goalkeeper Karl Darlow on a free transfer.

The 35-year-old left Leeds United at the end of June.

He made 22 Premier League appearances for the West Yorkshire outfit last season, finishing the campaign as Daniel Farke’s first choice.

Darlow is also Wales’ current first-choice goalkeeper.

The move is likely to trigger the exit of Altay Bayindir, who spent the majority of last season as understudy to Manchester United’s first-choice Senne Lammens.

With Radek Vitek also set to leave, either on loan or permanently after impressing on loan at Bristol City last term, Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick needed additional back-up given 40-year-old Tom Heaton has not played a first-team game since February 2023.

Providing the deal goes through as expected, Darlow will be involved in a pre-season campaign which begins against Wrexham in Helsinki on 18 July.

Sione Tuipulotu admits to a “quiet confidence” in the Scotland camp as he prepares to lead his men against the world champion Springboks in the Republic for the first time.

The Boks have beaten Scotland 25 times in 30 meetings, including a win in the 2023 World Cup pool stage and a 32-15 victory at Murrayfield in 2024. Rassie Erasmus’ troops, too, have an unbeaten record against the Scots in South Africa.

Now, Tuipulotu, capped 39 times for his adoptive country, faces perhaps his toughest assignment yet – Saturday’s Nations Championship Test at Loftus.

“This is why I started playing rugby when I was 12 years old, you know, preparing for the opportunity to play the world champions in their backyard,” the Australian centre said.

“I feel like I’m in a rare space in my career where I’m not going to get this opportunity again, to be coached by this coaching staff, to play with this group of players.

“I’m very grateful to be captaining this side and I want to make full use of the opportunity.”

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Despite the magnitude of the occasion, Tuipulotu was careful not to overstate Scotland’s chances of an upset in Pretoria.

“There’s no point talking about anything like that before the game, because you’ve got to go out there and play the world champions in their backyard. I’d be stupid as a captain to sit up here and say so,” the 29-year-old added.

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“I’m confident in my group, but I would like to think it’s more of a quiet confidence and we’ll focus on ourselves.

“I think playing any Test team in their backyard, especially the back-to-back world champions is as big as it gets, but we also don’t need to make it any bigger than it already is.

“We’ll just go out there on Saturday and put out our best performance.”

Scotland arrived on the Highveld this week buoyed by a big win over Los Pumas in Argentina, which built on impressive performances against England and France in the 2026 Six Nations.

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“We’re a much different team now. I would like to think that we’ve kind of evolved into becoming the team that we want to become,” Tuipulotu said.

“We obviously saw bits of that in the Six Nations and I was really proud of the performance last week away from home.

“And yeah, I would like to think the games we’ve played over the last 12 months have shown that we’re a little bit of a different team than we’ve played them [the Boks] last time at Murrayfield.”

Photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

The post Scotland skipper on picking Boks’ pocket appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Oscar Mingueza ouvre un nouveau chapitre de sa carrière. L’ancien défenseur du FC Barcelone s’est officiellement engagé avec Crystal Palace, pensionnaire de la Premier League, où il a signé un contrat de quatre ans.

Libre de tout engagement après son passage au Celta Vigo, le latéral espagnol rejoint les Eagles, à communiqué le club anglais ce jeudi. À 27 ans, il fait ainsi le choix de relever un nouveau défi dans l’un des championnats les plus compétitifs au monde. Formé à la Masia, Mingueza s’était révélé sous les couleurs du FC Barcelone avant de poursuivre sa progression au Celta Vigo. Son arrivée à Crystal Palace marque un tournant dans sa carrière, puisqu’il découvrira pour la première fois la Premier League.

Le club londonien renforce ainsi son secteur défensif avec un joueur polyvalent, capable d’évoluer aussi bien sur les côtés que dans l’axe de la défense. Les supporters des Eagles espèrent désormais que son expérience et ses qualités permettront à l’équipe de franchir un nouveau cap lors des prochaines saisons.

The post Transfert : Oscar Mingueza fille à Crystal Palace appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.

Malgré la présence de son coéquipier Ayyoub Bouaddi dans les rangs du Maroc, l’attaquant du LOSC, Ethan Mbappé sera derrière la France où évolue son frère et capitaine des Bleus, Kylian.

Avant le quart de finale de Coupe du monde près de Boston entre la France et le Maroc, Ethan Mbappé a été questionné via les réseaux sociaux du LOSC sur son choix du pays qui rejoindra le dernier carré. L’attaquant de 19 ans a répondu et a un message pour son coéquipier Ayyoub Bouaddi, qui a participé à 4 matchs dans ce Mondial avec les Lions de l’Atlas, mais a logiquement exprimé son soutien aux Bleus avec la présence de son frère, Kylian.

« Petite pensée pour mon gars Ayyoub (Bouaddi). Je lui souhaite un bon match. J’espère qu’il fera un bon match, Mais malheureusement, j’ai un membre de ma famille dans l’équipe adverse, donc je supporte la France, mais je suis de tout cœur avec lui. », a glissé l’attaquant des Dogues.

The post France-Maroc : Ethan Mbappé vote pour son frère Kylian appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.