Gary Neville says only one team has 'unity' to stop France from winning World Cup in brazen prediction
France's surge towards the World Cup trophy continued last night with a dominant 3-0 win against Sweden.
With Kylian Mbappé looking unstoppable at the forefront of a frightening attack that also features world-class talents such as Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, it's easy to see why Les Blues are many people's favourites.
It's been a tournament filled with drama and controversial moments, with Paraguay meeting France in the final 16 after their impressive penalty shootout win over Germany, something which wildly prompted a lot of fans to suggest a drastic rule change.
As long as they can negotiate playing four quarters instead of two halves, and don't get distracted by the seemingly endless advertisements in stadiums, there seems as if there's nothing that will stop France from reaching a third straight final, especially with Canada or Morocco awaiting in the quarter-final should they get past Paraguay.
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The earliest England could play France is in the final, but Gary Neville has now named the 'horrible' team who he believes could stop Didier Deschamps' side in their tracks.
Speaking on ITV, the former Manchester United defender said: "The only team I can see stopping France right now, because of the mentality, is Argentina. 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."
Argentina, of course, beat France in the 2022 final thanks to some moments of Lionel Messi magic, and the best player in history will certainly give his country hope that they can go back-to-back, after making history in the group stages with six goals.
They also have a favourable route to the latter stages, with Cape Verde up first on Friday night, so it perhaps wouldn't be a surprise to see Argentina and France meet in the semi-final.
Neville 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 front four of Mbappé, Barcola, Dembélé and Olise, he added: "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, Argentina and Mexico are the only sides to boast a perfect record so far, so it's easy to see where Neville is coming from, and last night's performance only emphasises why it's going to be such a struggle for any team to stop Mbappé and co going forward.
Ian Wright added: "France in this form. They’ll be more worried about playing against France than they’d be worried about playing Spain or Portugal.
"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."
Maybe we just need that witch doctor to put a curse on the French attack, because it seemed to work when he did it for Harry Kane against Ghana the other day.
All-time World Cup top scorers
Lionel Messi - Argentina
Number of goals: 19
World Cups: Six - 2006 (one goal), 2010 (no goals), 2014 (four goals), 2018 (one goal), 2022 (seven goals), 2026 (six goals at time of writing)
Number of matches played: 29
Kylian Mbappé - France
Number of goals: 18
World Cups: Three - 2018 (four goals), 2022 (eight goals), 2026 (six goals at time of writing)
Number of matches played: 18
Miroslav Klose - Germany
Number of goals: 16
World Cups: Four - 2002 (five goals), 2006 (five goals), 2010 (four goals), 2014 (two goals)
Number of matches played: 24
Ronaldo - Brazil
Number of goals: 15
World Cups: Four - 1994 (no goals), 1998 (four goals), 2002 (eight goals), 2006 (three goals)
Number of matches played: 19
Gerd Müller - West Germany
Number of goals: 14
World Cups: Two - 1970 (10 goals), 1974 (four goals)
Number of matches played: 13
Just Fontaine - France
Number of goals: 13
World Cups: One - 1958
Number of matches played: Six
Pelé - Brazil
Number of goals: 12
World Cups: Four - 1958 (six goals), 1962 (one goal), 1966 (one goal), 1970 (four goals)
Number of matches played: 14
Harry Kane - England
Number of goals: 11
World Cups: Three - 2018 (six goals), 2022 (two goals), 2026 (three goals at time of writing)
Number of matches played: 14
Jürgen Klinsmann - West Germany/Germany
Number of goals: 11
World Cups: Three - 1990 (three goals), 1994 (five goals), 1998 (three goals)
Number of matches played: 17
Sándor Kocsis - Hungary
Number of goals: 11
World Cups: One - 1954
Number of matches played: Five
Gabriel Batistuta - Argentina
Number of goals: 10
World Cups: Three - 1994 (four goals), 1998 (five goals), 2002 (one goal)
Number of matches played: 12
Teófilo Cubillas - Peru
Number of goals: 10
World Cups: Three - 1970 (five goals), 1978 (five goals), 1982 (no goals)
Number of matches played: 13
Topics: World Cup, Football, Lionel Messi
James Moorhouse