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Wales Online
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Ian Mitchelmore

Today's World Cup headlines as 'Wales don't have more passion than England' and defender says handbrake is off

Your latest World Cup headlines on Sunday, November 27.

'Wales don't have more passion than England'

Sven-Göran Eriksson says Wales do not have more passion than England.

Prior to the World Cup, Gareth Bale was asked if he felt Rob Page's men were the most passionate country at the tournament, with the Los Angeles ace saying he believed they were.

However, ahead of the Red Dragons' final group stage match at Qatar 2022 against England on Tuesday night, former Three Lions boss Eriksson says victory would mean more to Wales than the English given their poor record in the fixture.

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"England will want to beat Wales, but for Wales, it is a dream to beat England because it almost never happens," he told Midnite. "Wales will be trying to play the game of their life against England as if England is their big brother and they want to impress them.

"Wales don't have more passion than England. If you put an England shirt on, you want to win and you're very keen to perform 100%. Wales will feel that it's more important to win against England than England will feel it is to win."

'Handbrake off' for Wales v England

Chris Mepham says the handbrake is off for Wales ahead of their final group stage clash with neighbours England.

Rob Page's side need to secure victory against Gareth Southgate's outfit to stand any chance of progressing into the last-16 of the competition.

And having claimed just one point from their opening two fixtures against the USA and Iran, Mepham says Wales have no option but to "go for it" when they lock horns with current Group B leaders England at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

"The handbrake is off now, we need to go for it," said the defender. "We've nothing to lose and sometimes that's quite dangerous for other teams, when you've nothing to lose, a wounded animal. We have to take the handbrake off and go for it against England.

"If there's every a game the group will be motivated for, it'd be that one. We've shown in the past against quality teams, we can match them. We need to dig deep against England, they're a top side."

Brennan Johnson added: "It's going to take a win against them for us to have a chance. We don't know what's going to happen, but we do know that all the boys are going to give it everything they've got.

"It's definitely possible we can beat them. It's going to take a huge effort but it's something we are ready for."

England is Wales' 'World Cup final'

Hal Robson-Kanu described Wales' contest with England as a "World Cup final" for Rob Page's side.

Victory is a must for Wales while they will also be hoping that Iran and the USA draw in Group B's other fixture.

It comes following what has been an underwhelming return to the big stage for Wales who followed up a 1-1 draw against the USA with a miserable 2-0 defeat to Iran.

But former striker Robson-Kanu says Wales' squad will be fully aware of the scale of the task that lies ahead of them on Tuesday night.

"It's all or nothing for Wales. They need to approach this game like a final," he said on Talksport.

"This is the World Cup final for Wales. It's out of their hands, but if they get a result elsewhere, all of a sudden, they go into the knockout stages of a World Cup tournament without having really played at the level we've expected them to.

"So it's going to be a massive game. It's a tough ask for Wales, and the England players will be aware of what they need to do."

France become first side to reach last-16

Two-time winners France became the first side to reach the World Cup knockout stages.

The reigning champions defeated Denmark in their second group stage fixture to move on to six points for the tournament. Kylian Mbappe netted either side of Andreas Christensen's header to earn Les Bleus victory at Stadium 974.

And it means Didier Deschamps' side are guaranteed to finish in the top two of Group D.

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