"I’m 100 per cent sure" - William Gallas makes bold prediction for Portugal vs France at EURO 2024
Former France international William Gallas has backed Les Blues to beat Portugal in their upcoming EURO 2024 quarterfinal. He believes the Kylian Mbappe-led side will easily get the better of their opponents on Friday, July 5.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Gallas claimed that France were getting better with each game. He added that given how Portugal have performed so far, he expected his former side to qualify for the semifinals. He said:
“Game by game, France are improving. In the last game against Belgium they only won 1-0, but they looked different. They looked stronger. I am happy with the position that France are in and, after what I've seen of Portugal, I’m 100 per cent sure France will reach the semi-finals."
“The biggest threat to France is Germany or Spain. Germany have the advantage of playing at home, which would make it harder for France. The problem is that we should have won our group and been on the other side of the draw against teams like England and Switzerland. Now we could be in trouble if we play against Germany," he added.
France remain unbeaten in the competition, while Portugal have lost once in the group stage against Georgia. While the French edged past Belgium with a 1-0 win in the Round of 16, the 2016 champions needed a penalty shootout to beat Slovenia.
France backed to beat Portugal by Chris Sutton
Football pundit Chris Sutton has also echoed William Gallas' predictions and stated that France would ease past Portugal. He predicted the Didier Deschamps's side to win 2-0 and wrote on BBC:
"I really don't understand why Portugal manager Roberto Martinez indulges Cristiano Ronaldo the way he does. We know what a great player Ronaldo has been in the past, and he can still influence games, but you have got to draw the line when it is clear he is having a negative impact on the team. Why, for example, is Ronaldo taking free-kick after free-kick when there are much better options? It's selfish from him, and he has a massive ego, but why is Martinez allowing it to happen?"
Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe have not had the best of tournaments. The Frenchman has scored once from the spot, while the Portuguese is yet to score.