England vs France Highlights: Giroud scores as France beat England 2-1 to enter World Cup semis | Football News

NEW DELHI: Two record scorers, two contrasting results as France Olivier Giroud scored the winner and England Harry Kane missed a penalty. Defending champions France continued their quest for back-to-back titles by beating England 2-1 at Al Bayt Stadium to reach the fifa world cup The 2022 semi-finals in Qatar on Sunday. The defending champions will face Morocco for the first time, who eliminated Portugal from the tournament on Saturday, for a place in the final on Thursday.
France’s all-time top scorer Giroud scored the winning goal 12 minutes before regular time, after Kane tied the score 1-1 with a kick goal in the 54th minute. England played superbly in the second half after France entered the break with a 1-0 advantage thanks to a superb strike from Aurelien Tchouameni in the 17th minute.
How it happened | Calendar and results
Kane, who equaled Wayne Rooney’s all-time England record of 53 goals with the first strike, had another chance to score the second equalizer but blew the ball over the crossbar of the France from the 84th minute penalty. England failed to extend the game after this miss.
France are now one win away from becoming the first consecutive finalists since Brazil in 2002 and two away from becoming the third team to retain the trophy after Brazil in 1962 and Italy in 1938.

France had to work hard for their victory as the first knockout match of the tournament between the two former sporting rivals kept the excitement going for an extraordinary quarter-final weekend.
France took the lead after 17 minutes, breaking as England still complained about an undelivered foul on Bukayo Saka.
Antoine Griezmann rolled the ball invitingly past Tchouameni, whose low shot from 25 yards flew just inside the post and past the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
England finally got in, pushing and probing but not too precise, although French keeper Hugo Lloris quickly left his line to save at Kane’s feet and then parried another drive from the England captain.

Lloris was in action again early in the second half, tipping a ferocious shot from Jude Bellingham over the bar as England came out laden with goal.
Saka, who had looked their most threatening player in the first half, was then tripped over by Tchouameni and Kane broke the penalty past Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Lloris to level Wayne Rooney as the record goalscorer. England on 53.
England were buoyed by goal and played with enormous confidence, but although centre-back Harry Maguire brushed a post with a header, they couldn’t make their dominance count. Instead, France fought back as Griezmann swung in a cross which Giroud brilliantly reached past Maguire and headed into the net for his fourth goal of the tournament.

England were given another lifeline via VAR when Theo Hernandez flattened Mason Mount but Kane sent his kick wildly over the bar with six minutes remaining.
England pushed to equalize but when Marcus Rashford’s injury-time free-kick went just over the bar they fell to a seventh defeat in 10 World Cup quarter-finals.
(With agency contributions)