By Robert Wheeler
- England lose 2-1 to France
- Harry Kane had the chance to equalise
- Three Lions miss out on semi-final with Morocco
QATAR – England is out of the World Cup, losing 2-1 to France, coming down to fine margins, with Harry Kane missing a crucial penalty.
England’s World Cup dream is over. The winners of this match were always going to become favourites to win the tournament. But, it is now France’s tournament to lose, as they face a semi-final against Morocco, for an opportunity to face either Argentina or Croatia in the final. The Three Lions fell behind early on, to an Aurelien Tchouameni strike, which was a goal from outside the box worthy of a clash between two great footballing nations.
Although, England was right to feel unjust heading a goal down into the half-time break. There was a foul on Bukayo Saka by Dayot Upamecano in the build-up to Tchouameni’s goal, and they should have had a penalty when Harry Kane was brought down just inside the area. England put that behind them and levelled in the 54th minute, Kane fired his penalty in, after the referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio finally gave a decision to Southgate’s side when Tchouameni brought down Saka.
Olivier Giroud, out of nothing diverted his header from a great cross from Antoine Griezmann, into the net in the 78th minute. England responded well and they were awarded another penalty, which was won by Mason Mount. But it was not to be the moment for the Three Lions…
David Beckham is one of Kane’s idols. But this moment for the current England captain reflected his hero’s missed penalty against the French in Euro 2004. Kane had to beat his Tottenham Hotspur teammate Hugo Lloris for a second time. However, his strike flew over the bar, in a heartbreaking moment for England. If Kane had scored he would not only have kept his side in the tournament. But he would have also become the nation’s top goalscorer, as it would have put him ahead of Wayne Rooney‘s record.
There was still time for England, as eight minutes were added on. However, the team were deflated and France held on to take their place in the semi-finals. Marcus Rashford had a late chance from a free-kick, but his effort just missed the corner of the goal.
Much of the talk before the game was on how to keep Kylian Mbappe quiet. England managed to do that but perhaps at the expense of underestimating other key players in Griezmann, who set up both goals, and Giroud who has now extended his place as Les Bleus’ all-time leading goalscorer.
Speaking to ITV after the game, Jordan Henderson refused to blame Kane for the defeat saying, “We know how many penalties Harry has scored for us, how many goals he has contributed to even get us here. He will be stronger for this in the future. He is a world-class striker and our captain, he will bounce back.”
There is no shame in losing to this quality France side, who are favourites to defend their title and become only the second nation after Brazil to win back-to-back World Cups. England must move on and its focus will go on to qualifying for Euro 2024 which will be held in Germany. It remains to be seen what will happen to this site, whether Southgate will stay on as manager and how many senior players will keep going. However, even though this group of players has not won anything yet, they have done the country proud by getting further in tournaments than any other men’s side since 1966.
England’s next match will be against Italy on 23 March in a Euro 2024 qualifier.
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