World Cup quarter-final LIVE: France beat England 2-1 after Kane misses penalty
World Cup quarter-final LIVE: France beat England 2-1 after Kane misses penalty
But there’s really only one stat that matters, and it’s not any of these below (which England dominated, by the way).
‘I don’t think we could have done anything more’
England manager Gareth Southgate has spoken about the Three Lions’ heartbreaking defeat.
The final four were decided. Will it be Messi’s time?
So, we’ve got two semi-finals that I don’t think many people – if anyone – could have possibly predicted.
Lionel Messi’s date with destiny is still on track with Argentina to play Croatia in the first semi-final, and the other spot in the World Cup final to be decided between France and Morocco, the first African nation to make the semi-finals after toppling Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
‘We wouldn’t have been here without him’
The support is flying in thick and fast for the England captain after his penalty miss.
England’s World Cup drought goes on. Will it ever change?
Big moments win big matches, and even though Kylian Mbappe was kept quiet pretty much all match, the French came up with a couple of big plays with Aurelien Tchouameni’s stunning first-half strike and Olivier Giroud taking advantage of some slack England defending to power the winning header home off a Harry Maguire deflection in the 78th minute.
The wait for England goes on. After the Euros heartbreak last year, their World Cup drought since 1966 lives on – and this was arguably their best chance of overcoming decades of history.
England players react after their World Cup defeat.Credit:AP
‘You can miss them with that technique’
On the second fateful Harry Kane penalty, each replay is looking uglier and uglier. One thing about the England captain is he’s always been a power penalty taker, rather than a precision one. It has served him so well for so long.
England’s defeat to hurt for a long time
That is going to hurt and hurt for a long time. England more than held their own for the majority of the game, but the world champions held firm and were a little bit craftier when it mattered.
Harry Kane drew England level with a penalty early in the second half, and then had a chance to send the game into extra time with a second spot kick late on after Olivier Giroud headed the French back in front, but he blazed his kick from 12 yards high over the bar of his Tottenham teammate Huge Lloris.
It’s a cruel, cruel game sometimes.
Full-time: France 2 England 1
That’s it. France are through to the World Cup semi-final against Morocco with Marcus Rashford’s free kick the last action of the game. Harry Kane will have to live with that missed penalty for a long, long time after scoring his first spot kick to level the game.
Alas, the heartbreak for England at major tournaments goes on. It’s always the same story.
