England’s disappointing run in the FIFA World Cup continued in Qatar as they bowed out of the tournament after enduring a tough 1-2 defeat against defending champions France on Saturday night. The blockbuster clash saw France taking a lead inside the first 20 minutes with midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni blasting past Jordan Pickford from long range.
The scoreline remained 1-0 until the halftime interval, however, England got back on level terms shortly in the second half. Bukayo Saka was tackled inside the French box, following which the Three Lions were awarded a penalty and it was successfully converted by England skipper Harry Kane.
However, France once again restored their one-goal advantage after Olivier Giroud netted the second goal in the 78th minute. The former Arsenal striker connected an incoming cross by Antoine Griezmann coming from the left flank, which took a deflection of Harry Maguire before smashing the net.
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England then shortly got a golden opportunity to square things off, once again from the penalty spot. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the regular 90 minutes, Mason Mount was shoved on the ground by a defender.
Kane stepped up for the spot kick once again but this time he blasted the ball over the crossbar, which also brought an end to England’s campaign at the World Cup.
Hugo Lloris, Kane’s Tottenham Hotspur teammate, who was at the goal shared his views on the match deciding moment. “The first one, we know each other so well, that I said to myself he’ll change,” Lloris told the French Team’s twitter account. “But he stayed with his usual. And the second one I went the right way. Certainly he must have been feeling the pressure so he lifted it a bit, he forced it a bit. It was an important moment in the game,” he added.
With the win France have booked a semifinal date with Morocco, which will be played on Thursday at the Al Bayt Stadium.
