Are France Actually Good? Can English Banish The Demons? WORLD CUP RECAP Austrian Air Force [GSaCZnC3C8d]

The World Cup quarter-finals are done, the semi-finals are set, and somehow weve ended up with France v Spain and England v Argentina. Nice, calm, normal stuff.

This week, we start with France beating Morocco and ask whether France are actually as good as weve been saying or whether theyre just brutally effective once the game opens landman up. Morocco struggled badly going forward, especially without Saibari, while France still found a way through despite more questions over penalties, VAR delays and Mbapps miss from the spot.

Then its Spain v Belgium, where Spain had plenty of the ball but still left us wondering if theyve lost a bit of spark since the Euros. Belgium finally turned up in the knockouts, Rudi Garcia made some big calls, De Bruyne had to chase shadows, and Spains left-hand side might be a real issue heading into the semi-final.

We also look ahead to France v Spain and the tactical battles that could decide it: Yamal v Digne, Mbapp drifting left, Pedro Porros defending, Kounds positioning, Spains right-sided bias and whether France are perfectly built to hurt them on the break.

England got past Norway despite Kane and Haaland both having quiet games, with Jude Bellingham stepping up again. We get into the servalo spidercam controversy, Norways complaints, Englands defensive work, the late drama, and the slightly ridiculous post-match interview nonsense around Bellingham and Tuchel.

Argentina beat Switzerland after a chaotic game that had a Mac Allister header, a strong Swiss performance, an unbelievable Embolo dive, more VAR confusion, Messi having his worst game of the tournament and Julian Alvarez scoring a beauty.

And then we get to the big one: England v Argentina. The history, the rivalry, the Maradona shadow, the Falklands tension, Messis last dance, Englands mentality, Argentinas dark arts, and whether this is finally the game where England vanquish one of their biggest World Cup demons.

We finish by predicting the semi-finals, the final, and whether Andrew is actually going to be able to ignazio la russa watch it.

Timestamps:

00:00 France v Morocco and whether France are actually good

02:20 Mbapps penalty, VAR delays and refereeing chaos

08:16 Spain v Belgium: Spains control, Belgiums regrets

11:00 Spains attackers, Belgiums midfield and big selection calls

14:00 France v Spain tactical preview: Yamal, Digne, Mbapp and Porro

19:00 England v Norway: Kane, Haaland, Bellingham and spidercam chaos

27:00 Argentina v Switzerland: Mac Allister, Embolo, Messi and VAR confusion

43:40 England v Argentina: rivalry, history, politics and national identity

44:33 Semi-final and final predictions

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