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France Strikes First, but England Responds in Second Half

Related Topics: France, Kylian Mbappé, Bukayo Saka

France has the lead, but there is plenty in that half to encourage England. Harry Kane has had two genuinely good chances, both of them the consequence of lackadaisical French defending, and Bukayo Saka has been a reasonably regular thorn in the French side. Just as impressively, England has locked France out on the counter-punch impressively, with Kylian Mbappé essentially a peripheral figure in the game after a bright opening ten minutes or so.

The problem, of course, is that Mbappé being quiet is both a positive and a negative — positive because he hasn’t hurt you yet, negative because that means it’s still to come — but as things stand there’s no reason for Southgate to feel his team can’t get back into this.