Harry Kane blazed a late penalty over the bar as England’s World Cup dreams ended with a 2-1 defeat in the quarter-finals to defending champions France.
Harry Kane blazed a late penalty over the bar as England’s World Cup dreams ended with a 2-1 defeat in the quarter-finals to defending champions France.
The England captain had already converted from 12 yards earlier in the game to level after Aurelien Tchouameni’s thunderbolt had put France ahead and he was given a golden opportunity to equalize for a second time after Olivier Giroud’s header when Theo Hernandez recklessly barged into Mason Mount.
His first penalty had taken Kane level with Wayne Rooney’s England scoring record of 53 goals and meant he’d scored more penalties in normal time at World Cups than any player ever.
But with six minutes to play, and the pressure huge, he smashed his second spot kick high over the bar. Kane looked devastated. There was no way back and at the final whistle, he was inconsolable.
Referee Wilton Sampaio had initially overlooked the foul on Mount before VAR advised him to check the pitchside monitor and England were frustrated throughout this enthralling contest by decisions from the officials, with a challenge on Bukayo Saka not given as a foul in the build-up to the opener and a penalty shout from Kane overlooked in the first half.
Jude Bellingham, at 19-years-old and England’s youngest player to start a quarter-final, Saka, 21, and Phil Foden, 22, were all exceptional as Gareth Southgate’s side dueled with France. Harry Maguire clipped a post with a header at 1-1 and Marcus Rashford lifted a last-gasp free-kick onto the roof of the net.
But ultimately it was a penalty that caused England World Cup heartbreak again.
What next for Gareth Southgate? Will he continue with his contract running through to the next European Championships for one more shot at glory with this group? That is the debate for the days to come.
As for France, they go on to play Morocco in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday at 7pm, again at the Al Bayt stadium after Morocco became the first African nation to reach the final four with a 1-0 win over Portugal earlier on Saturday, which left Cristiano Ronaldo in tears.
It was a dramatic ending to this epic first-ever knockout clash between these sides. It had begun with England looking nervy after the big build-up and the fear of France star Kylian Mbappe was plain to see when he was able to stretch his legs in the lead-up to the opener.
After a desperate challenge from Declan Rice, England retreated rapidly to their own area and there was then space for Antoine Griezmann to roll across for Tchouameni to crash an excellent strike into the bottom corner.
