France vs England: Giroud says Mbappé is one of the best players he’s played with

France and England will face off in the World Cup last-eight clash on Saturday with Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappé set to line up in the attack for Les Bleus.

England vs France

This will be the third World Cup match between England and France, with the Three Lions winning the last two - a 2-0 victory in 1966 and a 3-1 victory in 1982, both in the group stages.

This year, England made it through to the quarterfinals after a 3-0 win over Senegal in the round of 16. They heated up in the second half, scoring a third goal and making changes where necessary to make the victory look easy. It won’t be so easy against France.

France are good. Really good. And with Kylian Mbappé, one of the best players in the world, they are a threat to England. They are undefeated in the 13 games in which Mbappé has started in major tournaments, having won all nine games in the World Cup.

“Kylian is basically one of the best players I’ve ever played with,” said French teammate Olivier Giroud. “He’s amazing and he’s still young, which is scary because he still can improve his game.”

“For me, he is one of the best players in the world,” England player Bukayo Saka agreed. “Of course, we know the quality he has, and as a team, we have to try and prepare to try and stop him.”

England has a threat of their own with captain Harry Kane leading the pack. He has scored 52 goals for England in all competitions, just one short of Wayne Rooney’s all-time record for England.

“He’s a player with a similar profile to mine. He is big, powerful and he has done well in front of goal,” said Giroud. “I think in these last months and years, he’s gone a bit deeper to get involved in the game. I don’t know if that’s due to his coach, but he makes a lot of passes.”

England and France play on Saturday, December 10 at 2 p.m. ET at Al Bayt Stadium.