Fifa World Cup Today: England And France Battle For Semi-Final Spot

Everything you need to know about Saturday's two quarter-finals
07:00, 10 Dec 2022

Friday’s quarter-finals ties were thrillers, now let’s hope Saturday can deliver as we find out the competitors for Wednesday's second semi-final at the Fifa World Cup.

With Morocco v Portugal and England v France in store, this is sure to be a cracking day of football.

Here is everything you need to know about Saturday’s action.

Morocco v Portugal - Quarter-Final

Where: Al Thumama Stadium, Al Thumama

When: 3pm (GMT) / 6pm (AST)

TV: ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player

Last meeting: Portugal 1-0 Morocco (Moscow, 2018 World Cup)

Morocco's last 16 result: Beat Spain 3-0 on penalties

Portugal's last 1 result: Won 6-1 v Switzerland

Morocco squad: 1 Yassine Bounou, 2 Achraf Hakimi, 3 Noussair Mazraoui, 4 Sofyan Amrabat, 5 Nayef Aguerd, 6 Romain Saiss, 7 Hakim Ziyech, 8 Azzedine Ounahi, 9 Abderrazak Hamdallah, 10 Anass Zaroury, 11 Abdelhamid Sabiri, 12 Munir Mohamedi, 13 Ilias Chair, 14 Zakaria Aboukhlal, 15 Selim Amallah, 16 Abde Ezzalzouli, 17 Sofiane Boufal, 18 Jawad El Yamiq, 19 Youssef En-Nesyri, 20 Achraf Dari, 21 Walid Cheddira, 22 Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, 23 Bilal El Khannous, 24 Badr Benoun, 25 Yahia Attiyat Allah, 26 Yahya Jabrane

Portugal squad: 1 Rui Patricio, 2 Diogo Dalot, 3 Pepe, 4 Ruben Dias, 5 Raphael Guerreiro, 6 Joao Palhinha, 7 Cristiano Ronaldo, 8 Bruno Fernandes, 9 Andre Silva, 10 Bernardo Silva, 11 Joao Felix, 12 Jose Sa, 13 Danilo Pereira, 14 William Carvalho, 15 Rafael Leao, 16 Vitinha, 17 Joao Mario, 18 Ruben Neves, 19 Nuno Mendes, 20 Joao Cancelo, 21 Ricardo Horta, 22 Diogo Costa, 23 Matheus Nunes, 24 Antonio Silva, 25 Otavio, 26 Goncalo Ramos

Preview: Morocco are in unfamiliar territory as this is the first time that they have reached the last eight at the World Cup. They did brilliantly to thwart Spain over 120 minutes with their compact shape and organisation. And to then go and show such composure and skill (shoutout to Achraf Hakimi) in the penalty shoot-out once again highlighted that they are not be underestimated. They have team spirit but they also have talented players in their squad. You look at their attacking players Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri and Sofiane Boufal but also the midfield warriors such as Sofyan Amrabat. This team has already made history, they could make more this afternoon.

As for Portugal, we are still coming to terms with that explosive attacking display against Switzerland last time out. Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped and suddenly there was much more of a rhythm from Fernando Santos' side. Ronaldo's replacement, Goncalo Ramos did brilliantly in that match, scoring a hat-trick in what was his first start of the tournament. It is likely he will maintain his place for this match and he is certainly someone that Morocco will need to watch closely, but they will also need to look out for the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix and Rafaeal Leao.

Sportsman stat: Morocco boss Walid Regragui will be the first African manager to take charge of a World Cup quarter-final match.

Betfred match odds: Morocco 5/1, Portugal 4/6, draw 11/4

Favourites for first goalscorer: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 11/4, Goncalo Ramos (Portugal) 3/1, Andre Silva (Portugal) 4/1 

Featured bet: Over 2.5 goals 11/10

To qualify: Morocco 5/2, Portugal 2/7

CristianoRonaldoPortugalUruguay2022jpg

England v France - Quarter-Final

Where: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor

When: 7pm (GMT) / 10pm (AST)

TV: ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player

Last meeting: France 3-2 England (Paris, 2017)

England’s last 16 result: Won 3-0 v Senegal

France’s last 16 result: Won 3-1 v Poland

England squad: 1 Jordan Pickford, 2 Kyle Walker, 3 Luke Shaw, 4 Declan Rice, 5 John Stones, 6 Harry Maguire, 7 Jack Grealish, 8 Jordan Henderson, 9 Harry Kane, 10 Raheem Sterling, 11 Marcus Rashford, 12 Kieran Trippier, 13 Nick Pope, 14 Kalvin Phillips, 15 Eric Dier, 16 Conor Coady, 17 Bukayo Saka, 18 Trent Alexander-Arnold, 19 Mason Mount, 20 Phil Foden, 21 Ben White, 22 Jude Bellingham, 23 Aaron Ramsdale, 24 Callum Wilson, 25 James Maddison, 26 Conor Gallagher

France squad: 1 Hugo Lloris, 2 Benjamin Pavard, 3 Axel Disasi, 4 Raphael Varane, 5 Jules Kounde, 6 Matteo Guendouzi, 7 Antoine Griezmann, 8 Aurelien Tchouameni, 9 Olivier Giroud, 10 Kylian Mbappe, 11 Ousmane Dembele, 12 Randal Kolo Muani, 13 Youssouf Fofana, 14 Adrien Rabiot, 15 Jordan Veretout, 16 Steve Mandanda, 17 William Saliba, 18 Dayot Upamecano, 20 Kingsley Coman, 21 Lucas Hernandez, 22 Theo Hernandez, 23 Alphonse Areola, 24 Ibrahima Konate, 25 Eduardo Camavinga, 26 Marcus Thuram

Preview: England gave a glimpse of just how devastating they can be on the break as they took the game away from Senegal within a matter of minutes in the round of 16. Jude Bellingham was crucial to both first-half goals and he is one of the Three Lions’ greatest weapons, alongside Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka. Midfielder Declan Rice has said that other nations should be fearing England and he might be right, or at least they shouldn’t be underestimated.

They will face their toughest test of the tournament in France. It’s always going to be tough when you face the reigning champions but with France looking like they could go all the way once again, this will be a tough fixture. The historical rivalry between the two nations needs no introduction and the atmosphere inside the stadium is sure to set the tone for the match. France’s biggest threats come in the form of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann - an attack stacked with quality which England have not had to deal with yet.

Sportsman stat: France will be the first reigning World Cup champions to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup since Brazil in 2006.

Betfred match odds: England 21/10, France 7/5, draw 23/10

Favourites for first goalscorer: Kylian Mbappe (France) 7/2, Harry Kane (England) 4/1, Callum Wilson (England) 5/1

Featured bet: Over 2.5 goals EVS

To qualify: England 11/10, France 4/6

*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change

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