Gary Lineker says only two teams can 'stop' France winning the World Cup

Former England striker Gary Lineker (Picture: Getty)

England

legend

Gary Lineker

says it will be ‘incredibly difficult’ for ‘any team’ to prevent France from winning the

World Cup

.

France booked their place in the last-16 of the World Cup with an

impressive 3-0 win over Sweden on Tuesday night

Didier Deschamps’ side have been arguably the most impressive team throughout the tournament, beating Senegal, Iraq and Norway in the group stage, scoring ten goals in the process.

France, who won the World Cup in 2018 and were

beaten finalists four years ago

, face Paraguay for a place in the quarter-finals after the south American side stunned Germany last time out.

Lineker rates ‘breathtaking’ France as his World Cup favourites and says

defending champions Argentina

could be the only team capable of ‘stopping’ Deschamps’ star-studded team out in the United States.

The legendary England striker also raised European champions Spain as possible rivals for France but all but dismissed England’s chances of winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

impressed in their World Cup opener against Croatia

, winning 4-2, but were then held to a goalless draw by Ghana before an unconvincing victory over Panama.

France have emerged as World Cup favourites (Picture: Getty)

Thomas Tuchel

’s side, who are bidding to end 60 years of hurt, looked set for an embarrassing World Cup exit at the hands of DR Congo, who

led their last-32 clash for over an hour

But

Harry Kane came to England’s rescue

, scoring two late goals to send the Three Lions into the last-16, where they will

face co-hosts Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning

‘Most of us thought France could implode because that’s happened at times historically,’ Lineker said on

The Rest is Football

. ‘But they seem to be really together.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina are the World Cup holders (Picture: Getty)

‘I honestly think it’s going to be incredibly difficult for any team to compete with them never mind beat them.

‘

Kylian Mbappe

is obviously France’s superstar but you can’t just crowd around him because then they’ve got [Michael] Olise, [Ousmane] Dembele, [Bradley] Barcola, [Desire] Doue, [Rayan] Cherki…

‘You just think it’s hard to look beyond them unless they pick up a couple of injuries to the superstars because they’re just breathtaking.

Harry Kane sent England into the last-16 (Picture: Getty)

‘I mean, who can stop them? I don’t think there’s any conceivable way they won’t get to the semi-finals.

‘At that point they will likely face Spain, who haven’t looked great so far. Maybe they can grow into the tournament.

‘Possibly Spain would have some kind of chance if they find the form of two years ago. But I would say Argentina are the ones.

‘It will be very difficult for England, I have to say. I’m feeling like there will be a replay of the final in Qatar from four years ago.’

Ex-Manchester United and England defender

Gary Neville also feels Argentina could be France’s biggest rival at the World Cup

‘The only team I can see stopping France right now, because of the mentality, is Argentina,’ Neville said on

ITV

‘Just because of the nastiness and the horribleness and their experience. That’s the only team I can see that’s got the unity right now that I think could stand in front of France.

‘Look, something may emerge. England, Spain, Portugal, we may see a step up from those teams. Let’s hope so.’

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