France are next up for England (Picture: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

England fans will shudder at the thought – but the Three Lions could easily lose to France on Saturday.

Les Blues are the current World Champions and have a star-studded lineup of players including Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and arguably the best player on the planet right now – Kylian Mbappe.

And so in the nightmare scenario that our continental friends getter the better of Gareth Southgate’s side and claim English Channel bragging rights – what will happen to England?

Let’s hope for the best but take a look at what could happen in the worst.

Will England be out of the World Cup if they lose to France?

If things go pear-shaped for England and they are beaten by France, that’s it – England will be out of the World Cup.

France will pose a serious challenge to England’s hopes of winning the World Cup (Picture: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Such is the nature of knockout football, the losing team will see their tournament campaign come to an abrupt halt, while the victors will progress to the semi-final on Wednesday, December 14.

Assuming England are beaten by France but subsequently qualify for the next World Cup, their next match in the competition would not be until June 2026 when the tournament is co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Will England fly home straight away?

With England vs France taking place at 10pm local time in Qatar, the game would finish around midnight in the Middle East.

As such, the squad would likely head back to their five-star Souq Al-Wakra hotel in Al-Wakra to get some sleep and collect their belongings.

England are just three games away from glory (Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

The team would then likely fly back to England the following day with the players going their separate ways upon landing back on home soil.

The players will be back in action for the start of the Premier League on Boxing Day.

Will they receive any prize money?

Qatar 2022 is the richest World Cup on record with almost £590 million in prize money set aside by FIFA.

If England are knocked out by France, the FA will receive £14million in prize money.

Unlike in club football, players featuring for England are not given a monthly wage.

More: World Cup 2022

Instead, Three Lions are given match fees for individual matches – for example at the 2014 World Cup players starting matches were given £2,500 by the FA if they started a match and £1,500 if they did not.

But if the French do indeed dump out the English, Harry Kane & co will likely miss out on bonuses they would have otherwise received for reaching the latter stages of the competition.

However, England players have been donating their match fees to charity since 2007.

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But fingers crossed and hope for the best.