England Suffers Defeat Against The Reigning Champions France Who Set Up A Semi-Final Clash With Morocco... 2022 World Cup.

England suffered World Cup quarter-final heartbreak at the hands of the reigning champions France on Saturday night at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Despite putting up a spirited performance, the Three Lions still went down 2-1 to crash out of the tournament.

England two goals in and missed a few chances against the Les Bleus, with captain Harry Kane who scored with a penalty, also missed another spot-kick during the encounter.

Aurellen Tchouameni had earlier opened the scoring from 25-yard, that dipped beyond Jordan Pickford's dive in the 17th minute.   

But a resilient England fought back early in the second-half with Bukayo Saka securing a penalty for the English side and Kane converting the penalty to level the game in the 54th minute.

The goal saw the Tottenham forward become England men's joint-top scorer with Wayne Rooney on 53 goals!

Olivier Giroud headed France back into the lead with his astonishing 78th minute goal keeping the dream alive for the French team.

However, despite scoring the first penalty, the English captain could not double the magic for his team. England won another penalty after Hernandez fouled Mason Mount, but Kane shot the penalty across the crossbar wasting what would have been the game changer in the 83rd minute of game time.

The three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner Kane became the first player to both score and miss a penalty in a World Cup match since Michal Bilek for Czechoslovakia against USA in 1990.

France therefore, are the first reigning champion to reach the World Cup semi-finals since Brazil in 1998.

Only Italy (1934/1938) and Brazil (1958/1962) are the only team to win the World Cup back to back. Didier Deschamps men are just two wins away from joining them.

France will now face Morocco in the semi-finals, who in a shocking win defeated a Ronaldo-led Portugal to become the first African team to ever reach a World Cup semi-final.

The winner will have a chance to play either Argentina or Croatia in the final on Sunday, December 18.

England head coach, Gareth Southgate, further explained at his post-match press conference why his team lost 2-1 against France;

Southgate said Kane should not blame himself for his penalty miss, saying: "For me, we win and lose as a team.

"We have let a couple of goals in and missed a few chances.

“For me, we win and lose as a team, we’ve let two goals in and missed a few chances.”

“We’ve lost a game. I shouldn't be speaking about referees. I just want to compliment France and wish them well - congratulations. It’s not right when you lose to talk about referees”

Southgate, 52, is contracted until after the European Championship in 2024 but was non-committal on his future as manager.

“These tournaments take a lot out of you and I need a bit of time to reflect. I think that's the right thing to do.

“It needs a bit of time to make sure everybody makes the right decision,” he said.

"Emotionally you go through so many different feelings. The energy it takes through these tournaments is enormous.

"I want to make the right decision, whatever that is for the team, for England, for the FA. I've got to be sure whatever decision I make is the right one.

"I think it's right to take time to do that because I know in the past my feelings have fluctuated in the immediate aftermath of tournaments."

When asked if captain Kane should be blamed for his penalty miss that led to England's defeat, Southgate said;

“[Kane] He’s been incredible for us and so reliable in those sorts of situations we wouldn’t be here, but for the number of goals he has scored for us.”