England 1-2 France: Giroud sends Deschamps to semis, Kane misses penalty – Football

A goal by Giroud allows France to beat England and conquer the semi-final of the World Cup in Qatar. At the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, the AC Milan striker signs the decisive 2-1, after the back and forth between Tchouameni and Kane, who scores a penalty but misses the second heavy, in the 84th minute, for the possible new draw. Deschamps’ team thanks and thus flies to the penultimate round of the tournament, where they will face a Morocco that has already written history by eliminating Spain and Portugal. Southgate’s men, on the other hand, eat their hands at the great wasted opportunity and go home with a sour taste in their mouths.

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The first flare of the match comes in the 17th minute and corresponds to the goal of the French advantage: Griezmann touches behind for Tchouameni, who controls at 25 meters and lets go a sudden right foot on which Pickford is unable to intervene. The reaction of the Three Lions was not long in coming: Shaw tries first with a free kick blocked by Lloris, who is then good at guarding a couple of poisonous attempts by Kane. France only came forward again in the 39th minute, when Theo Hernandez served Mbappe in tow who, however, kicked very high with his left foot wasting a good chance.

At the start of the second half, England got off to a different start, nearly equalizing with Bellingham and then finding it in the 54th minute thanks to Kane’s penalty, awarded after a foul by Tchouameni on Saka. The match heats up, because Deschamps’ team doesn’t seem to feel the pinch and after just a minute they respond immediately with Rabiot, who kicks left-footed from outside the area, calling Pickford to intervene. On the other hand, in the 70th minute it was Southgate’s men who came close to doubling the lead, with a header from Maguire that went just wide of Henderson’s free-kick. The end of the match was a whirlwind of continuous emotions: Giroud was first blocked by Pickford on a left-footed volley, then the AC Milan striker headed the French 2-1 by making perfect use of a nice cross from Griezmann.

A handful of minutes pass and an ingenuity from Theo Hernandez (violent shoulder on Mount punished by the Var) gives the English the second penalty for a possible new draw: from the penalty spot, however, this time Kane kicks to the stars, throwing everything to the wind. In the last moments of the long recovery allowed (8 minutes plus 2 and a half additional), the last chance for England is a very tempting free-kick kicked by Rashford just over the crossbar.

England-France scoresheet

9′ st Kane (pen)

17′ pt Tchouaméni, 33′ st Giroud

England (4-3-3): Pickford 7 – Walker 7.5, Stones 6.5 (53′ st Grealish vac), Maguire 6.5, Shaw 7 – Henderson 6.5 (34′ st Mount 6.5), Rice 6.5, Bellingham 6.5 – Saka 7.5 (34′ st Sterling vac), Kane 6 , Foden 6 (40′ st Rashford sv). Ct. Southgate 6.

France (4-3-3): Lloris 8 – Koundé 6, Varane 6.5, Upamecano 7, T. Hernandez 6 – Griezmann 7.5, Tchouaméni 7, Rabiot 7 – Dembélé 6.5 (34′ st Coman sv), Giroud 8, Mbappé 6.5. Ct. deschamps 7.

Referee: Sampaio (Bra) 7.

Note: Griezmann, Dembélé, T. Hernandez and Maguire booked. Spectators: 68,895.