England 1-2 France: Harry Kane misses a late penalty as England bow out of the World Cup

By Sporting Life

Football

Mon December 12, 2022 · 2y ago

Harry Kane missed a late penalty as England lost 2-1 to France to depart the 2022 World Cup at the quarter-final stage.

Gareth Southgate's side fell short against a top tier opponent yet again in a knockout match, a hurdle his Three Lions haven't quite cleared during his tenure.

After naming an unchanged side from the win over Senegal, England started brightly, but it was France who opened the scoring through a stunning long-range strike from Aurélien Tchouaméni.

England thought they should have had a free-kick in the build up to the goal, and there were more protests when Harry Kane went down on the edge of the box only for VAR to deny them a penalty.

The first half ended with few chances at either end, but England started the second half brightly, and Bukayo Saka went down to this time earn a penalty which was ruthlessly dispatched by Kane to level proceedings.

Harry Kane: #ENG's joint all-time leading goalscorer - equal with Wayne Rooney on 53 🦁#ENGFRA pic.twitter.com/yLPD24cRBM
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That goal took Kane level with Wayne Rooney on England's all-time top scorer list, hitting his penalty to the keeper's right and leaving Spurs teammate Hugo Lloris with no chance.

England were in the ascendancy after that and were pushing for another goal, but the warning signs were there from France, and particularly Olivier Giroud.

The French forward saw his volleyed effort saved by Jordan Pickford from close range in the 77th minute, but got his goal just a minute later with a trademark header.

A corner, cleared initially, came back into the box from Antoine Griezmann and was met by Giroud, whose header beat Pickford, making him France's all-time top scorer and putting them within touching distance of a semi-final against Morocco.

England pushed on again in search of an equaliser, and when substitute Mason Mount was barged over in the box by Theo Hernandez late on, they had a golden opportunity to level the game for a second time.

Having already beaten Lloris once from the spot, Kane stepped up and blazed his second penalty high over the bar.

England again rallied and created a few half-chances in the final throes of the game, the last of them falling to late substitute Marcus Rashford, whose free-kick whistled over the crossbar with Lloris motionless.

That proved the final act as England saw their World Cup bid ended by the holders, who were ruthless if not at their very best in a game Southgate's side will feel they could've won.