Patrick Vieira reveals team he wants France to avoid in World Cup final

Patrick Vieira says he hopes France do not have to face England should they advance through to this year’s World Cup final.

Four years on from their painful runners-up finish to Argentina, France breezed through Group I to secure their place in the knockout phase – scoring ten goals and conceding only twice from their three games.

This set up a last-16 clash against Sweden, where France’s all-star attack unleashed a scintillating brand of football to advance to the quarter-finals, with Kylian Mbappe netting twice in a comprehensive 3-0 victory.

A 70th-minute Mbappe penalty proved the difference in a bad-tempered encounter with Paraguay last weekend, before Didier Deschamps’ men made it six from six against Morocco to reach the last four on Thursday.

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Once again, Mbappe played an instrumental role in the win, opening the scoring with a stunning curled effort beyond Yassine Bounou to take his extraordinary tally at World Cups to 20 goals in 20 appearances.

Ousmane Dembele put the game to bed with a similarly emphatic strike just six minutes later, sealing his country a semi-final spot versus the winner of Spain’s quarter-final clash with Belgium.

The holders Argentina, meanwhile, find themselves on the opposite side of the draw and must overcome Switzerland to continue their defence of the coveted trophy and set up a possible repeat of the 2022 final.

Providing punditry for ITV after Morocco’s elimination, Vieira spelled out who he would rather France lock horns with and who he would ‘prefer’ to face at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on July 19.

‘What you’re hoping is that the Mexico result can given them that boost of confidence that they need,’ former Arsenal colleague Ian Wright said of England’s hopes on the back of the side’s unforgettable victory over Mexico.

‘We know we’ve got two world-class players who are match-winners.’

In response to Wright’s remarks about the Three Lions, Vieira chimed in: ‘But why do you believe that England can’t do it?

‘I know that we’re not at the final yet but I don’t want France to face England in the final.

‘I would prefer France to play Argentina.’

Mbappe moved joint-top – alongside Erling Haaland – of this year’s World Cup goalscoring charts with his exquisite strike on the hour-mark to break the deadlock against Morocco.

And given the level of Mbappe’s performance in Boston, Vieira appeared somewhat sympathetic towards those defenders tasked with keeping out the Real Madrid superstar.

‘When they’re inside the box it’s really difficult to touch them because they’ve got so much pace and they’re really good on the ball,’ the legendary ex-Arsenal midfielder – who lifted the World Cup in 1998 – explained.

‘As a defender you don’t want to be too close because they will be passing you really quickly.

‘You want to create those distances and force them to pass the ball but at the same time, when you create those distances, you allow him to take the shot and score a goal.’

On Dembele’s goal to double France’s advantage, Vieira added: ‘You just have to look at the pace that Mbappe attacks the space with, the speed that he runs into to create that space for Dembele.

‘He had the options with Barcola on the left-hand side and he had other players on the right-hand side.

‘But the fact that he created that space, he came a little more inside, and he’s facing the goal.’

Vieira was then asked for his thoughts on France’s potential semi-final opponents, Belgium, who face off against Spain on Friday.

Rudi Garcia made the bold call to start Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku on the substitutes bench last time out, a decision that paid off as the Red Devils ran out comfortable 4-1 victors over co-hosts USA.

‘Those three players are quite big names and really important players for the Belgium side,’ Vieira said.

‘But if the manager is satisfied with the decision that he’s made and the team perform and manage to win the game, why change the players?

‘Of course, Spain will be a different opposition but I think he should keep the same players.’

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