Gareth Southgate expects 'biggest test possible' for England against France

Gareth Southgate says England face the biggest test possible after sweeping aside Senegal to set-up a mouthwatering World Cup quarter-final against reigning champions France.

The European Championship runners-up overcame heightened expectations and a nervy start in Al Khor to triumph with ease against this year’s Africa Cup of Nations winners on Sunday evening.

Harry Kane opened his account in Qatar – becoming England’s highest ever scorer at major tournaments and moving within one goal of Wayne Rooney’s record – after Jordan Henderson opened the scoring late in the first half.

A smart Bukayo Saka clipped effort wrapped up a comfortable 3-0 win against Senegal that secured a return to Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday to take on World Cup holders France.

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

"It’s the biggest test that we can face," England boss Southgate said.

"They’re world champions, incredible depth of talent, outstanding individual players, very difficult to play against and to score goals against.

"It’s a fantastic challenge, brilliant game for us to prepare for.

"The two quarter-finals that are already in place are fantastic, historic football rivalries and great games from the past.

"A brilliant game for us to be involved with and test ourselves against the very best."

France eased past Poland earlier in the day to seal their spot, with Olivier Giroud becoming their all-time top scorer before Kylian Mbappe hit a brilliant brace in the 3-1 triumph.

"Of course (Mbappe) is a world-class player and has already