France knocks England out of World Cup 2022

France went on after a suffocating victory, but the main character was Harry Kane. The 29-year-old striker equaled the record for most goals for England (53 goals), when he equalized from a penalty early in the second half. But also from another penalty at the end of the game, Kane kicked England out of the World Cup. For the second year in a row, the "Three Lions" dream of winning a major tournament was ended by a penalty, after they lost last year's Euro final in a penalty shootout.

France did not play better than England in the whole match. The defending champion held the ball only 43% and shot eight times, compared to 15 of the opponent. But teachers and students Deschamps than "Three Lions" in the ability to take advantage of opportunities. Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele were locked down, and France still scored twice from the individual brilliance of Aurien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who became France's most capped player of the day with 143 caps, also played well with six saves.

Coach Southgate shared before the match that he and his students took two years to think of a way to beat France. Taking the World Cup champions too seriously makes England enter the game with a lack of confidence. Tchouameni concretized the pressure of France from the beginning of the game, with a very tight and dangerous long shot to beat Jordan Pickford in the 17th minute.

England only rose up after having to concede an early goal. Successive opportunities came to Luke Shaw and Harry Kane - who aspired to break Wayne Rooney's record of 53 goals for England. But in the first half, Kane twice failed to beat his Tottenham teammate, goalkeeper Lloris.

Penalty could come to England in the first half, when Dayot Upamecano collided with Kane in the penalty area. But after consulting VAR, the referee said no to the penalty. However, the opportunity from a distance of 11 meters soon came to Kane at the beginning of the second half, when England pressed France to choke. Buyako Saka slicked the ball from the right to the center, causing Tchouameni to be trapped. The player who opened the scoring for France was a beat slower than Saka, fouling the young Arsenal talent in the penalty area. Kane made no mistake, scoring his 53rd England goal and fourth from a penalty at the World Cup - both records.

After being equalized, France shook off its languid face at the beginning of the second half. Mbappe and his teammates rushed to respond to the opponent, creating an attractive double attack. A flurry of opportunities came to France's Rabiot, Dembele and Giroud, as well as England's Maguire, Kane and Saka. At 78 minutes, the balance was broken again. France's goal scorer, Olivier Giroud shined with Maguire's face and headed home Pickford's net.

Coach Southgate made the right calculation when he brought Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling on after the goal. Mount immediately brought home the penalty, when Theo Hernandez pushed him down in the penalty area. Kane showed his bravery when taking the responsibility of kicking the second penalty in the match. Like the header, he tries to shoot hard when facing Lloris. But when the psychological burden was greater, Kane shot over the bar. Many England fans cried after this situation, when it was 84 minutes of the match.

England worked hard to attack in eight minutes of compensation, and the opportunity came to them in the last minute of compensation. The "Three Lions" were awarded a free kick right next to the penalty area, with a similar angle to the situation in the Netherlands - Argentina match the day before. But England could not equalize 2-2 like what the Netherlands did against Argentina, when Marcus Rashford narrowly shot over the bar.

England were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup 2022 - the tournament they left an impression with a much more mature young star than a year ago at Euro. France is facing a great opportunity to defend the championship after eliminating a heavyweight opponent. If they beat Morocco in the semi-finals, Deschamps and his team will meet Croatia or Argentina in the final.