Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes only one team are capable of stopping tournament favourites France from winning the World Cup.
France, who won the World Cup in 2018 before losing in the final four years ago, have emerged as the clear favourites to win this tournament.
Didier Deschamps’ side topped Group I with a perfect record, scoring ten goals in their wins over Senegal, Iraq and Norway.
France dispatched of Sweden in the round-of-32 before beating Paraguay to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, where they will face Morocco.
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In the two other confirmed quarter-final ties, Spain take on Belgium and England face Norway.
World Cup holders Argentina, meanwhile, will meet Colombia or Switzerland for a place in the semi-finals of the World Cup after surviving a huge scare to beat Egypt.
Arsenal legend Wenger is confident France will win the World Cup for a third time and says Spain are the only team ‘capable’ of denying the current favourites.
Spain were held to a goalless draw by minnows Cape Verde in their World Cup opener but recovered to top Group H.
The European champions outclassed Austria in their first knockout game before scoring a late winner to knock out rivals Portugal.
Luis de la Fuente’s side face Belgium in the quarter-finals on Friday night before a possible blockbuster showdown with World Cup favourites France.
‘France will win the World Cup,’ Wenger told Sky Sports. ‘I know you will say, “of course you say that, you’re French”.
‘But when you analyse the World Cup, the train goes at a certain pace and you have to be capable of getting on the train.
‘For example, the Asian teams have gone out because they could not cope with the intensity and the pace of the games. They did not have enough to technically compete.
‘The real question for me is Spain. If one team is capable now of beating France I would say it is Spain because their technical level is better than France.
‘They have quality and a culture of collective football that nobody else in the world has at that level. That could be the decider between these two but of course France is stronger physically.’
England’s reward for a heroic win in Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning is a quarter-final tie with Norway, who knocked out Brazil.
Thomas Tuchel’s side will avoid France all the way until the final if both teams get there but could face defending champions Argentina in the semis.
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