Millions of people expected to watch England vs France in the World Cup quarter-finals | UK News

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Millions of people are expected to watch on TV as England take on France in the World Cup quarter-finals tonight.

The two European football giants will meet at the Qatari Al-Bayt Stadium, and the winner will face Morocco or Portugal in the semi-finals on December 14th.

The British Pub and Beer Association hopes 7pm in the UK will be a night of plenty, and predicts a £26m increase for the industry.

Additional police will be in London to monitor English and French football fans expected to flock to the city, while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to watch the match from a game of Checkers.

In Qatar, England manager Gareth Southgate said the team had to be the “best version” of themselves if they were to beat the World Cup champions, France.

He said England’s run to the last World Cup semi-final in 2018 and appearance in the European Championship final last summer would help, adding: “In terms of our experience, I think those big matches for the team are important reference points.

“They had to go through many different ways to win matches, some defeats that hurt but we learned a lot from them and I think they prepare you for nights like tomorrow where you have to produce the best version of yourselves.

“Mental is really key.

“The belief that we deserve to be there and ready to fight France for that place in the semi-finals.”

READ MORE: England ‘hope and believe’ as they prepare for final test against France Harry Kane: England ready for ‘really tough’ quarter-final game

The first two matches of the quarter-finals took place on Friday, with Croatia beating Brazil and Argentina beating the Netherlands, while the other match – between Portugal and Morocco – will be played this afternoon.

England will be boosted by the return of Raheem Sterling, who is back with the squad after an emergency flight back to the UK.

Sterling wanted to be with his family after their home in Surrey was burgled ahead of England’s game against Senegal.

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Southgate said the extent of Sterling’s involvement against France was yet to be determined, adding: “We just have to assess that, but we’re really happy he’s back.”

England captain Harry Kane said: “We’re not here just to get to the quarter-finals, let’s put it that way.

“We know there are some very good teams in this tournament, and we also know that we are a very good team as well, so if we lose tomorrow we will be as disappointed as anyone.”

Andrew Whitaker, 30, a claims and costs consultant who lives in Doha via Liverpool, said: “I think they’ll do well against France, I have a strange feeling.

“It’s the first test.

Image: Raheem Sterling is back with England

“They’ve always played lower teams and they’ve done well and when it comes to the big game they’ve always fallen a little bit short.

“So hopefully this will be the third time he has been so lucky.”

But France fan Julien Abbasi, from Paris, said: “My real feeling is that I definitely respect England because you have a good team, you score a lot of goals, but I think we’re a good team.

“We have experience, our coach knows how to deal with this kind of team.”

Al-Abbasi, 40, was seen in Doha wearing a hat with a plastic baguette attached to it, and said: “For example, (French striker Olivier) Giroud played in England, (French striker Kylian) Mbappe has already faced (England star) Kyle Walker. So I think we’re ready for this match, I’m sure of that.”

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