AL KHOR, Qatar (AFP) – Olivier Giroud scored the winner and Harry Kane missed a late penalty as holders France beat England, 2-1, in a tense World Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
Aurelien Tchouameni had swept France into a first-half lead only for Kane to equalise from the spot nine minutes into the second half.
England were the better side for long stretches of the game at Al Bayt Stadium but, almost from nowhere, France went back in front when Giroud headed home with 11 minutes left.
Kane than blazed his second penalty of the game over the bar as England’s wait to win a first major international trophy since the 1966 World Cup goes on.
France though remains on course to become the first side since Brazil 60 years ago to successfully defend the World Cup.
With Brazil having been eliminated on Friday and England dealt with here in the desert north of Doha, France is now surely the favorite to retain its crown as it prepares to face Morocco in the semi-finals.
This, remarkably, was the first meeting of these two great rivals in a major tournament knockout game, with Croatia’s victory in extra time preventing England from joining France in the final four years ago.
England had found their stride after a sluggish start in the last-16 win over Senegal and it was no surprise to see Southgate name an unchanged side, with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden either side of Kane in attack.
That meant he resisted any temptation to revert to a back five in an attempt to counter the threat posed by Kylian Mbappe, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals.
MOROCCO WINS
In Doha, Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals as Youssef En-Nesyri’s first-half goal sealed a tense 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium.
The Atlas Lions, also the first Arab team to make the last four, added Portugal to their list of European scalps with a resolute second-half performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo has likely played his last World Cup match after making an ineffectual appearance as a second-half substitute, failing to score his first knockout-phase goal at the tournament before departing down the tunnel in tears.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was sent on early in the second half by Santos but could not rescue the Euro 2016 winners.
