France have beaten England 2-1 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and will play Morocco for a place in next week’s final.
Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni scored a sublime opening goal from range. Harry Kane leveled the score after the break with a penalty kick, after having an earlier appeal ignored by referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio.
Olivier Giroud then scored a late goal to put France in control, before Kane dramatically missed a second penalty kick, with the reigning world champions holding on to win.
England matched France in the World Cup quarterfinal
England matched the World Champions throughout the game. They were bold, they were inventive. They pushed forward in a style that shed their familiar conservatism.
England had the majority of the chances but fell foul to France’s more clinical finishing
Football‘s modern origins began in Britain more than a hundred years ago, but England has won the World Cup only once. This was in 1966 when the team defeated West Germany 4-2 when they hosted the tournament.
Coach of France Didier Deschamps praised England’s side after their loss to France: “England were very good. They have quality in all areas of the pitch. On set pieces they were very strong. They showed before tonight they can be very dangerous on set-pieces, half the goals they scored before tonight. Very strong on transition, on counter-attack, and as soon as they get the ball back they can score very quickly.”
Now French eyes turn to Morocco, whose manager, Walid Regragui, compared his team to Rocky Balboa after they stunned Portugal 1-0. That run here in Qatar is all the more remarkable as they were among the outsiders at the start of the tournament, while Regragui has only been in post since August.
France have won the cup twice—in 1998 when they defeated Brazil 3-0 on home soil and in 2018 when they beat Croatia 4-2 in Moscow. Les Bleus have been runners-up once—in 2006, second runners-up twice in 1958 and 1986, and third runners-up once in 1982.
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