Loyalties will be divided at a village pub this evening as its owners root for opposite sides in the England v France World Cup match.

Frenchman René Renault and Englishman Harry Taylor have run the Red Lion Inn together for 13 years, but their working relationship may be tested as their national sides meet for the quarter-final.

The High Street boozer is expecting to welcome more than 100 mostly-England fans for the event, but René says he’s not afraid to be in the minority cheering for Les Bleus.

“I will be proudly singing La Marseillaise in a crowd of English people,” boasted René, 54.

“It’s going to be a lovely and fun atmosphere.

“But I am very, very confident that we are going to win so probably the English fans won’t be very happy about that.

“I predict, 3-1, to France, obviously.”

Harry however, expects the opposite will happen, with the three lions beating their European neighbours either 2-1 or 3-2.

“England has always lost to France but every now and then the underdog wins and I think now is our time,” said Harry, 49.

“Our team is much better, they only have Mbappé.

“But it’s going to be a crazy manic atmosphere in here.

“Last time we played each other the crowd booed René for singing the national anthem.”

The couple say the tournament has come at a good time for their pub.

Like many small businesses in Kent, the Red Lion Inn's costs have spiked in recent months, with its electric bill more than doubling at a time when it was still recovering from financial losses due to Covid.

The couple say the matches have drawn crowds to their much-loved gastro-pub.

“We show the matches on two giant screens and we get a real mix of people who come to watch - young and old people,” said Harry.

“Tonight there will probably be about 20 France fans and 120 English fans, so it’s going to be a lively evening, for sure.”

The game will kick off at 7pm at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar.

Gareth Southgate’s England team reached the quarter-finals after cruising past Senegal in a 3-0 win on Sunday.

But their match-up against France is thought to be their biggest challenge yet in the tournament.

The reigning world champions are slightly favoured in the knock-out match and have lost to England only twice the last ten times the teams have met in all competitions.

However, England have performed well in the 2022 World Cup, and are one of only three teams still in the running for the trophy who are unbeaten in the tournament.