- France's irresistible front four, Mbappé, Olise, Dembélé make them unbeatable World Cup favourites.
- No one can realistically challenge France; England have no chance unless Ezri Konsa retrains as a bricklayer and builds a wall.
- Michael Olise's audacious skills and Ousmane Dembélé's artistry epitomise why fans flock to France's freewheeling attack.
- Tournament pragmatism lets mediocre sides park the bus; better to hand the trophy to France, sparing others embarrassment.
C’EST FINI
We can all agree the Geopolitics World Cup has gone on far too long, so Football Daily is pleased to announce it is over. It monopolises everyone’s time, changes sleeping, eating and drinking patterns, leaving everyone tired and poorer. No one wants to stay up for further 2am BST kick-offs or attempt to watch a couple of games a day. Frankly, the process has been completely futile since the first ball was kicked.
France have won the tournament; no one can compete with their arousing front four who are, frankly, better than anything else on the planet. You can try to lie to yourself that it is worthwhile watching Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham do their bit, but it is all completely and utterly forlorn. Ending the GWC now will save a lot of needless heartache for every other team, the players will get some much-needed rest and travelling supporters can see their loved ones. No more press conferences when head coaches have to pretend they are “in it to win it”. Every team is playing for second, so why not just share the silver medals between those remaining now? Let Atlanta save on the air-conditioning units, allow the Mexicans to celebrate a 100% record in a home tournament and bring our brave boys home as – to some extent – winners.
Oh, but Paraguay are really good defensively, maybe their low block could be the thing to stifle that lad Mbappé and his mate who used to play for Reading. No, it will not, nothing will spare them from being prised open like a can of cheap tuna by the sharpest tools in the business. Michael Olise will spend the rest of his summer getting donkeys through the eye of the needle and Ousmane Dembélé will be producing sculptures out of clay with his feet. Olise pranging the post with a stunning overhead kick was almost the highlight against Sweden, in a match full of tricks and flicks. “It was a fantastic bit of skill. Unfortunately it didn’t go in, but people come to the stadium to see that kind of thing,” Mbappé purred. There is really no reason to consider outdoing them. Unless Ezri Konsa retrains as a bricklayer and builds a wall in the net, England have no chance of competing with Didier Deschamps’s side. “I did say that I wanted to enjoy this World Cup to the fullest,” Mbappé cheered.
This GWC is known for its on-pitch pragmatism. Mediocre teams are allowed to qualify, and stick everyone with the relevant passport behind the ball, to really drag it out and create more tickets to sell. There is nothing more logical, then, than choosing the best team now. If it was done on a points system no one would be able to catch up Les Bleus anyway. Senegal, Iraq, Norway and now Sweden failed to lay a glove, running around for 90 minutes desperately wondering if they could swap shirts at the end. They can tell the grandkids they were beaten by the best in years to come. And what a story they will have to tell.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Day three of, er, last-32 week. Join Scott Murray for England 2-0 DR Congo, 12pm local, 5pm BST. Rob Smyth will be on hand for Belgium 1-2 Senegal (aet), 1pm local, 9pm BST. And we’ll also bring you USA USA USA 1-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5pm local, 1am BST.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I used to have a cat called Bob. He jumped in the back of a Royal Mail van and we lost him. Sad really” – BBC co-commentary’s Danny Murphy leaves more questions than answers during a quiet phase of play in Norway v Côte d’Ivoire. Amad Diallo scored moments later.
