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| Kylian Mbappe of France during the World Cup match between France v Poland at the Al Thumama Stadium on December 4, 2022 in Doha Qatar. |
Luke Shaw has warned England that it would be ‘naïve’ of them to focus on stopping Kylian Mbappe ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against France.
Mbappe has been the standout player at the tournament and leads the Golden Boot race with five strikes across four games, to go along with two assists for good measure.
He’s the obvious danger man but Shaw has warned his England teammates that France are reigning world champions for a reason – they’re more than just a one-man show.
“Obviously after his performance (against Poland) there’s going to be even more chat about him but we know he’s a world-class player,” Shaw said. “I think it would be very naïve of us to focus purely on him. They’re reigning world champions for a reason and we need to focus on them as a whole team.
“They have brilliant players over the whole pitch so we’re not going to fully focus on him, but it’s an amazing tie to be involved in and that’s why we’re here.”
Alongside Mbappe, France have relied on excellent performances from Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot and Olivier Giroud, the latter of whom has overtaken Thierry Henry to become the leading scorer in the history of the national team.
“It’s obviously not going to be easy. They are reigning world champions and they are that for a reason,” Shaw continued. “It will be a very tough game and mentally we have to be ready and focused because we have to be at 100% to win this game and we know that.”
The Man Utd left-back added: “It’s been an amazing tournament, an unbelievable one to watch and it shows no game is easy.
“We always speak before about the favourites and this and that and when you come to a World Cup it’s always different – the atmosphere, the game, the heat.
“It’s all things you need to get used to and I think you’ve seen with a couple of the big names you maybe think should be through are not and that shows we’re obviously doing the right things at the moment, but I think we need to step up another level because France are a very good team.”
