French midfielder: 'Kane missed a penalty is justice'

"First of all, I'm not sure if it was a foul or not. We've seen hundreds of disputes like that where the referee didn't give a penalty," Rabiot said after the win at Al Bayt. "Of course, when Kane misses, we are happy. It is justice, because England did not deserve the penalty."

However, like coach Didier Deschamps, Rabiot admits France was lucky to beat England. "Team when you need a little luck to succeed," the 27-year-old midfielder added. "We have that tonight, and everything comes together perfectly. We're proud to be in the semi-finals this way."

Minute 82, Mason Mount disputed with Theo Hernandez and fell in the penalty area. Initially, referee Wilton Sampaio did not cut the whistle. But after going to the border to watch the slow motion, he changed his mind and gave "Three Lions" a penalty.

Mount and teammates were overjoyed, because England had a great chance of equalizing 2-2 if captain Harry Kane successfully made the penalty. Before that, England had never missed a penalty in World Cup history. But on the 11m mark, Kane again shot over the bar, missed the equalizer to bring France into extra time and maybe a penalty shootout.

Lloris shared with Kane, a teammate at Tottenham, when he dared to take responsibility at a crucial moment in an important match. With 327 matches - equivalent to 26,858 minutes, Kane is the player to play with Lloris the most. The duo won 184 wins, 63 draws and 80 losses.

"During the game, there was a lot of emotion and of course we were happy when Kane missed the penalty because it was an important moment," Lloris said. "But at the same time, I feel sad because Kane is a teammate I've known for a long time and someone I respect a lot."

Starting yesterday, Lloris surpassed Lilian Thuram to become the player with the most appearances for France with 143 matches. "This is a special evening. The 143rd match against England - where I have played for the last ten years," said the 35-year-old goalkeeper. "The best way to celebrate this record is to win. We have suffered a lot, but we are strong in the storm."

In the semi-finals on December 4, France will meet Morocco - the team beat Portugal 1-0 - at Al Bayt Stadium. The last team to reach the final twice in a row was Brazil in 1998, when they lost 0-3 to France. If they can defend the Gold Cup, the army under Deschamps will repeat the success of Italy in 1938 and Brazil in 1962.