Mbappe v Walker is key battle in England v France war

One of the most mouth-watering aspects of Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final between England and France will be a head-to-head battle between Kylian Mbappe and Kyle Walker as the tournament’s most devastating forward faces its fastest defender.

Mbappe has been on fire in Qatar, scoring fabulous goals and playing with freedom, zest and pure joy rarely seen at the international level and particularly within the sometimes stultifying tension of a major tournament.

For all his skill and adventure, however, his ability is underpinned by the knowledge that he can beat his man simply by pushing the ball past him and exploding out of the blocks.

He did it twice in the win over Poland, giving his defender a meter start but turning it into a meter deficit within a second. For all of football’s tactical developments in the last 150 years, the explosive pace is a constant currency that trumps all.

On Saturday, however, Mbappe will come up against a man whose defensive prowess is built on the same foundation.

Walker’s ability to recover dangerous-looking situations simply by turning on the afterburners was one of the reasons Manchester City made him the then-most expensive defender in the world when they signed him for 50 million pounds ($60.87 million) five years ago.

Both players have been timed among the fastest in the game, with top speeds of around 36.5kpm (22.6 mph), but it is how quickly they get there that makes them different.