France No. 1 Hugo Lloris has stated that Les Bleus have analyzed club teammate and England captain Harry Kane’s penalties ahead of their nations’ FIFA World Cup clash.
The reigning world champions will take on the Three Lions in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup on Saturday, December 10. It is one of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament in Qatar and the winner will face either Portugal or Morocco in the semifinals.
Lloris, who will lead France out on Saturday, will be up against a familiar face in Kane, with the duo spending the last 10 years together at Tottenham Hotspur. In what will be a clash between two quality teams, the game could end up going into extra-time and penalties.
Kane has been England’s first-choice penalty-taker in recent years and is bound to take one of the spot-kicks if he is on the pitch for the shootout. Asked ahead of the game about the prospect of facing his Spurs teammate in a shootout, Lloris responded (as quoted by talkSPORT):
“You know better than me Harry can shoot anywhere from the spot. We have analysed them but it’s all about instinct and a feeling before we get there. There is time to make a difference on the pitch.”
The France custodian praised his English counterpart’s quality, adding:
“I’m very close to Harry on a daily basis, on and off the pitch. I only have positive things to say [about him], often he makes the difference in tight games.”
Kane will enter this game after netting his first goal of this year’s FIFA World Cup in England’s Round of 16 clash against Senegal. The Three Lions won that game 3-0 to progress to the quarterfinals. Prior to that, Kane had registered three assists in the group stages.
Meanwhile, Lloris has played in three out of four 2022 FIFA World Cup matches for France. He is yet to keep a cleansheet, having conceded one goal apiece against Australia and Denmark in the group stage, and Poland in the last 16.
2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals will see England and France clash in a tournament for the first time since 2012
The 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals will mark the first meeting between England and France at a major tournament in over a decade.
Their last major meeting was in the group stages of the 2012 UEFA European Championships. That game ended 1-1 with Joleon Lescott scoring for the Three Lions and Samir Nasri equalizing for Les Bleus.
They have since played two international friendlies against each other. The first was in November 2015. England won 2-0 courtesy of goals from Dele Alli and Wayne Rooney on that occasion.
The most recent meeting came in June 2017, with France winning 3-2. Harry Kane scored for England inside the opening 10 minutes, but Djibril Sidibe and Samuel Umtiti struck to give France the lead.
Kane equalized from the spot just three minutes into the second half, but Ousmane Dembele’s 78th-minute strike gave the French side the win.