Neville and Lineker name Argentina as likely barrier to France’s World Cup run

Ian Wright names one team who can stop France winning World Cup

Argentina are the biggest danger to France at the World Cup, says Ian Wright (Picture: Getty) Ex-England and Arsenal star Ian Wright has picked out Argentina as the biggest threat to France at this summer’s World Cup. Four years after falling to Lionel Messi and Co at the final hurdle in Qatar, France have established themselves as the red-hot favourites to lift the prestigious trophy. Didier Deschamps’ have blown all opposition away playing an ultra-attacking brand of football, with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola in frightening form and firing on all cylinders. An inspired Mbappe scored twice as Les Bleus swept Sweden aside to reach the 32, where they will do battle with Paraguay for a place in the quarter-finals. Don't miss a World Cup moment England's hero (Picture:Getty) What a rollercoaster this has been. Make sense of the drama with Metro's free daily newsletter, featuring England updates, match previews and exclusive analysis. Sign up now. The Real Madrid superstar has been in stupendous form throughout and now sits just one goal of Messi’s all-time scoring record at World Cups having netted 18 times in his 18 appearances dating back to 2018. Speaking on ITV, former England right-back Gary Neville named Argentina as the side with the most realistic chance of bringing France’s quest for glory to a halt this summer. Two days on and Neville featured alongside Roy Keane and former England internationals Jill Scott and Wright on The Overlap, where the topic of how France could be possibly beaten was inevitably raised once again. Mbappe sits top of the goalscoring charts alongside Messi this summer (Picture: Getty) Argentina got the better of France in an all-time classic final four years ago (Picture: Getty) ‘It’s going to take something [to beat France],’ Wright said. ‘It’s going to take an Argentina because of the warrior nature of Argentina.’ According to Wright, Argentina could realistically get the better of France if they made it ‘horrible’ for the likes of Mbappe and Dembele. Asked again who he thinks could stop France, Wright repeated: ‘Argentina. ‘Make it horrible for them.’ To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page While France lifted the coveted trophy in both 1998 and 2018, Les Blues also have a history of a history of self-destruction at World Cups – perhaps most notably in 2010 when squad division led to a humiliating group-stage exit. But Wright sees no evidence of big egos potentially derailing France’s campaign, only a ‘tightness’ and ‘togetherness’ between Deschamps’ star men. ‘They look together because you can see if there was going to be [an internal implosion], it would be Mbappe and Dembele, but they look so tight,’ he added. Olise is the World Cup’s leading assists maker with five to his name (Picture: Getty) ‘And Olise, you know when you see a player where the manager has obviously said, “Whenever he wants it, give it to him”, and wherever he goes you just see them going, “Give it to him, give it to him”, Mbappe just gives it to him. ‘It’s together, they know exactly what they want to do.’ The ex-Arsenal striker went on: ‘Did you hear the players? I think it was [Aurelien] Tchouameni talking about the manager and what he’s been through and how they know it’s his last tournament and want to make sure they do it for him. Deschamps is looking to lift the trophy for a third time having already won the World Cup as both a player and manager (Picture: Getty) ‘They’re focused, they’ve got everything.‘It’s individual brilliance. Afterwards you’re saying, “Well, how are you going to stop them?”… what are you going to do? ‘Are you going to put a man-marker on Olise? Are you going to double up on Dembele or Doue? Come on!’ To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page Former England forward Gary Lineker echoed Wright’s remarks while assessing the leading contenders, telling The Rest Is Football: ‘Most of us thought France could implode because that’s happened at times historically, but they seem to be really together. ‘I honestly think it’s going to be incredibly difficult for any team to compete with them never mind beat them. ‘Kylian Mbappe is obviously France’s superstar but you can’t just crowd around him because then they’ve got [Michael] Olise, [Ousmane] Dembele, [Bradley] Barcola, [Desire] Doue, [Rayan] Cherki… POLL Poll Can anyone stop France at this year's World Cup? YesCheck NoCheck ‘You just think it’s hard to look beyond them unless they pick up a couple of injuries to the superstars because they’re just breathtaking. Lineker also named Argentina as a possible threat to France, as well as Spain, despite La Roja’s somewhat unconvincing start to the tournament. ‘I mean, who can stop them? I don’t think there’s any conceivable way they won’t get to the semi-finals,’ he added. ‘At that point they will likely face Spain, who haven’t looked great so far. Maybe they can grow into the tournament. ‘Possibly Spain would have some kind of chance if they find the form of two years ago. But I would say Argentina are the ones. ‘It will be very difficult for England, I have to say. I’m feeling like there will be a replay of the final in Qatar from four years ago.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source

2 hours ago

Gary Lineker says only two teams can ‘stop’ France winning the World Cup

Former England striker Gary Lineker (Picture: Getty) England legend Gary Lineker says it will be ‘incredibly difficult’ for ‘any team’ to prevent France from winning the World Cup. France booked their place in the last-16 of the World Cup with an impressive 3-0 win over Sweden on Tuesday night. Didier Deschamps’ side have been arguably the most impressive team throughout the tournament, beating Senegal, Iraq and Norway in the group stage, scoring ten goals in the process. France, who won the World Cup in 2018 and were beaten finalists four years ago, face Paraguay for a place in the quarter-finals after the south American side stunned Germany last time out. Don't miss a World Cup moment England updates, match previews and exclusive analysis. Get it all in our daily World Cup newsletter. Sign up. Lineker rates ‘breathtaking’ France as his World Cup favourites and says defending champions Argentina could be the only team capable of ‘stopping’ Deschamps’ star-studded team out in the United States. The legendary England striker also raised European champions Spain as possible rivals for France but all but dismissed England’s chances of winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966. England impressed in their World Cup opener against Croatia, winning 4-2, but were then held to a goalless draw by Ghana before an unconvincing victory over Panama. France have emerged as World Cup favourites (Picture: Getty) Thomas Tuchel’s side, who are bidding to end 60 years of hurt, looked set for an embarrassing World Cup exit at the hands of DR Congo, who led their last-32 clash for over an hour. But Harry Kane came to England’s rescue, scoring two late goals to send the Three Lions into the last-16, where they will face co-hosts Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning. ‘Most of us thought France could implode because that’s happened at times historically,’ Lineker said on The Rest is Football. ‘But they seem to be really together. Lionel Messi’s Argentina are the World Cup holders (Picture: Getty) ‘I honestly think it’s going to be incredibly difficult for any team to compete with them never mind beat them. ‘Kylian Mbappe is obviously France’s superstar but you can’t just crowd around him because then they’ve got [Michael] Olise, [Ousmane] Dembele, [Bradley] Barcola, [Desire] Doue, [Rayan] Cherki… ‘You just think it’s hard to look beyond them unless they pick up a couple of injuries to the superstars because they’re just breathtaking. Harry Kane sent England into the last-16 (Picture: Getty) ‘I mean, who can stop them? I don’t think there’s any conceivable way they won’t get to the semi-finals. ‘At that point they will likely face Spain, who haven’t looked great so far. Maybe they can grow into the tournament. ‘Possibly Spain would have some kind of chance if they find the form of two years ago. But I would say Argentina are the ones. ‘It will be very difficult for England, I have to say. I’m feeling like there will be a replay of the final in Qatar from four years ago.’ Ex-Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville also feels Argentina could be France’s biggest rival at the World Cup. ‘The only team I can see stopping France right now, because of the mentality, is Argentina,’ Neville said on ITV. ‘Just because of the nastiness and the horribleness and their experience. That’s the only team I can see that’s got the unity right now that I think could stand in front of France. ‘Look, something may emerge. England, Spain, Portugal, we may see a step up from those teams. Let’s hope so.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source

12 hours ago

Gary Neville says only one team can stop France winning World Cup

Kylian Mbappe was in red hot form again in the last 32 (Picture: Getty Images) Gary Neville believes only one team has a chance of stopping France at the World Cup this summer, as things stand. Didier Deschamps’ side have been sensationally good so far in the tournament and continued their rampant form as they hammered Sweden 3-0 in the last 32 on Tuesday night. Kylian Mbappe added two more goals to his tally, taking him to six for the tournament, and Bradley Barcola got the other one in New Jersey. The French have been cutting through teams almost at will so far, beating Senegal 3-1, Iraq 3-0 and Norway 4-1 before this latest romp. Don't miss a World Cup moment England updates, match previews and exclusive analysis. Get it all in our daily World Cup newsletter. Sign up. Up next for them is Paraguay, who knocked out Germany on Monday night but will be distant second favourites when they meet the relentless French side. Neville reckons the only team looking like they can compete with France right now is Argentina, who also sauntered through their group with three wins and face Cape Verde in the last 32. The former England defender thinks the defending champions could be the ones to stop France, but hasn’t seen anything from other teams yet to put them in the same bracket. Lionel Messi has also scored six goals already at the World Cup (Picture: Getty Images) ‘The only team I can see stopping France right now, because of the mentality, is Argentina,’ Neville said on ITV. ‘Because of the nastiness and the horribleness and their experience. ‘That’s the only team I can see that’s got the unity right now that I think could stand in front of France. ‘Look, something may emerge. England, Spain, Portugal, we may see a step up. Let’s hope so.’ Didier Deschamps is aiming to step down as France boss as a World Cup winner (Picture: Getty Images) He added: ‘There’s a long way to go but you look at them now thinking, you’ll have let yourselves down if you don’t win this. Because they’re so far ahead, at the moment, of where the other teams are in terms of level.’ On the devastating attack of Mbappe, Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise, he said: ‘That four that started the game – they will cause nightmares for every single defender in the tournament and I don’t know how they stop that to be fair. ‘A level above. Brazil won in the last minute. Germany and Holland have gone out. They are showing everyone else in this round how to do it.’ France play Paraguay next, with the winner of that game taking on Canada or Morocco in the quarter-finals. The World Cup draw (Picture: ITV) Likely semi-finalopponents for whoever comes through would be Spain or Portugal and Ian Wright said that France will be fearing no one as much as their opponents would be fearing them. ‘France in this form. They’ll be more worried about playing against France than they’d be worried about playing Spain or Portugal,’ said the Arsenal legend. ‘It’s only if France have a total capitulation, which I can’t see, for them to [not] go on to win it. I can’t see what’s stopping them at the minute.’ Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source

1 day ago