The score was 1:1 and there was less than a quarter of an hour to play when the free-standing player Olivier Giroud had the chance to shoot from 6 metres – and saw his powerful finish break up in the extreme by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. But old Jerrod did not give up and after a minute he saw a cross flying towards him. He asserted himself aggressively against defender Harry Maguire and headed out to make it 2-1 (78′).
The English, who were superior in all but the most important statistics, were forced to reply. And the opportunity was given to them: Théo Hernandez unnecessarily cut Jason Mount in the penalty area, after consulting the VAR, a penalty kick was correctly assigned. Captain Harry Kane, who scored the goal to make it 1-1 from the penalty spot, took responsibility again – and flicked the ball over the crossbar.
While England was remembering the events of the previous shoot-out, France was celebrating. The mediocre offensive performance thus far seemed to be enough for the defending champion in the giant duel. After England substitute Marcus Rashford volleyed a free kick several inches over the bar at the end of injury time, France’s win was a fact.
Upamecano is lucky twice
At the newly built Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, the “blues” started the match a little better and were rewarded for this: Orlin Choameni, who was already entrusted with defensive duties in the center, made it 1-0 dryly. shot. Bitter for England: Bukayo Saka had been given a hard time attacking by Dayot Upamecano, and the French could not complain about a foul whistle.
Less than 10 minutes later, Upamecano was lucky again: with his somewhat awkward foot, he stumbled Kane, who was in possession of the ball, all presumably on the penalty line. There was no whistle again. Before and after that, the very prominent Kane also made two serious shots in this storm and stress phase of the English language.
Only the English managed to equalize in the second round, when Kane inflicted the aforementioned penalty kick (54th place) and equalized with record man Wayne Rooney with his 53rd goal in the “Three Lions” dress. Incidentally, Jirou also scored 53 nationally after the quarter-finals. His goal should come to the decision in the final stage.
This is how it goes
France triumphed in the first joint duel between the two great footballing nations. ‘Equipe Tricolore’ can continue to dream of defending their first World Cup title since Brazil 1958/62, while in the meantime England must return home after a fine performance.
After a 3-day break, France is serious about the semi-finals: on Wednesday, the “blue” team will meet Morocco again at Al-Bayt Stadium. The Atlas Lions defeated Portugal (1-0) and became the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
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