This is my new series covering the World Cup. I will pick talking points from each gameday to write about. I will most likely write one or two daily posts until the final. Today, I will be talking about the following:

• France beats Poland

• England defeats Senegal

France beats Poland

This game was highlighted by Mbappe. The young star already has 9 goals in the World Cup at the age of 23 which means he easily has 2 or even 3 more World Cup tournaments in him. Mbappe's numbers are shocking when compared with legends of the game.

Mbappe looks like a strong candidate to break Klose's record of 16 goals at the World Cup, he just needs to score one or maybe two more goals to achieve that comfortably.

Looking at France, Mbappe is a great player, Dembele knows how to break through, each player in the team is on form. But, there's one player, if removed, could break down all the team. That player is Antoine Griezmann. There's no player who had such a role transition and revelation as much as Griezmann.

Antoine Griezmann became a real midfielder, he is the first to pressure when the ball is lost, and he also drops deep when defending. He is also the team's Maestro, to those who watched France in the 2018 World Cup, Griezmann now is what Pogba was during that tournament.

Griezmann is an attacking-minded midfielder, he knows how to attack. That's why he became the best player to desterbute the passes to the sides and middle, plus knowing when to attack and from what side. Griezmann is one of France's most important player, if he wasn't the most important.

Individually, France performs great. Kounde is playing great as a right-back, Dayot Upamecano is giving such a great performance this World Cup. I believe France's bet on him to stop Harry Kane.

Team wise, France went into this match knowing that they're facing a weaker team. A team that qualified thanks to luck more than anything. It's the round of 16, and France had a top England squad to face, therefore, France knew they needed to win with as little effort as possible. Yes, there's a resting time between round of 16 and round of 8, but going into the World Cup almost mid-season definitely has its tole.

France's strategy was controlling the match, moving smoothly back and forward, and only going to second gear if that proved fruitless by the time the first half ends. Fortunately for them, they didn't need to. Poland had their warning shot, but then France scored with Giroud and slowly started ending the match.

England defeats Senegal

Very similar to France, England knew that the quality difference between them and Senegal is too big to be solved by tactics, technique, or commitment. There are times where a team is simply better no matter what, and this was one of those times. That also was the case between France and Poland.

People were baffled by Southgate's choice to start Henderson. The idea is simple, England are not in a hurry to score, and Henderson is there to just keep the tempo low and controlling the excitement as that's a key to winning the World Cup, it's not about exhausting your team to beat a team 9-0 but then having now energy left and either draw or lose the next match.

Henderson was also aware of when the others were getting too excited and was telling to calm down. He still played some other roles like completing the triangles on the sides, and even his goal was based on him completing those trangles.

Next player to talk about is Harry Kane. Even if he doesn't score, Harry Kane is still the most vital piece to England's attack as he is the one connecting the midfield with the attack. Thanks to Kane, Bellingham and the wingers were able to breaking into the penalty box many times. His movement is great, his goal chances creation make him exemplary, and his goals make him the perfect attacker.

When facing Harry Kane, the defence is worried about the possibility of him scoring, of him passing, or of him opening the space for someone else. That's why defending against Harry Kane is very difficult as you simply have to keep in mind what his goal in the particular moment and how to stop each scenario.

Bellingham is a talent like no other in England. There's no English player like him in England at the moment. Historically, England also didn't have a player with his kind of touch, not just shooting or passing, but his dribbling abilities and flair, the closest player to Bellingham I could think of is Jack Wilshere is terms of technique. Bellingham feels more like a Brazilian midfielder than an English one if we're being honest.

Bellingham and Saka from one side, Mbappe and Aurélien Tchouaméni from the other, we're truly looking at the next generation of top footballers. Players who will be at the spotlight for the next 10 years or so.

While France and England both went into their matches with their strategy being that they don't get exhausted or pull more effort than they need to, England did one thing better than France and that is exhausting the opponent.

We saw for the first 15 minutes how England kept attacking from all different sides. That style makes the opponent team feel like they're always in danger and could lose at any moment. France won as well, but, we did believe that Poland would win the match as France didn't look dangerous until they actually scored. That difference plays an importantly role in exhausting an opponent. Maybe France never needed the opponent and that's why it doesn't matter.

Mbappe vs Walker, Harry Kane vs Upamecano, there will be battles all over the field in the upcoming game between the two in an early final. We are looking forward to one of the most exciting matches in this World Cup with so much at stake.