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England and France fans play friendly game
England crashed out of the World Cup by losing at the hands of France on Saturday night after Harry Kane missed a late penalty that would have put the Three Lions back on level terms. Olivier Giroud scored the winning goal for the defending champions with a fine second-half header to set up a semi-final meeting with Morocco, while England will be forced to mull over another early World Cup exit at the hands of a top nation over the coming weeks and months.
England took a while to get going at the Al Bayt Stadium and were made to pay for their slow start when Aurelien Tchouameni fired home from 25 yards to open the scoring for France inside the opening 20 minutes. Gareth Southgate's players were then left incensed when they were denied a penalty after Kane was chopped down by Dayot Upamecano on the edge of the area, with the referee doing England no favours in the first half.
A spot-kick did arrive after the interval, though, with Kane making no mistake from 12 yards to send Hugo Lloris the wrong way after Bukayo Saka was fouled in the box. Giroud went on to restore France's slender advantage from close range before England were awarded a second penalty following a foul on Mason Mount, but Kane was unable to repeat his previous heroics under the weight of pressure and ended up sending the ball high over the crossbar.
Relive Express Sport's updates below.
England were dumped out by France in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday (Image: GETTY)
"I would love Gareth to stay on for two years," says ITV Sport pundit Gary Neville.
"I’d love him to stay on beyond that, whether it’s as a coach or whether it be a role in the FA deciding the future.
"England in the last 10 years have won youth tournaments, won the women’s tournament in the summer, we’ve got to the men’s final, we’ve got good technical players. England are in a good place, let's be clear.
"We’ve gone out of tournaments in a disgrace thinking: ‘What do we do for the future?’. We’ve got a great future and he’s a part of that."
Gareth Southgate has revealed that he will assess his options regarding his future as England manager in the wake of tonight's heartbreaking defeat at the hands of France.
"I think after every tournament, we’ve sat and reviewed and that needs a little bit of time so everyone makes the right decisions," he tells ITV Sport.
"I mean I think we’re here to try win the tournament. We had belief we could and with the performance tonight against the reigning champions, we’ve got a team that could’ve done that.
"I think at key moments you play in a high level game there will be chances created. In most of the big moments we were in the right place, more shots on goal, goalkeeper made a couple of good saves but it’s a game of fine margins."
"I don’t know how many penalties he has scored for us," Jordan Henderson tells ITV Sport when quizzed on Harry Kane's missed spot-kick.
"Scored the first one, how many goal he’s contributed for us to get here so he’ll be stronger in the long run. He’s a world class striker, our captain, we wouldn’t be here without him.
"Straight after the game it’s difficult to find the right words. I thought we give everything in the game, disappointed to go 1-0 down but the character, mentality to keep going and find the equaliser.
"I can’t say any more really. We give it everything and unfortunately it wasn't our night."
England played well on the balance of things against France but ultimately failed to do enough to warrant a place in the World Cup semi-finals in spite of their best efforts.
Harry Kane was inconsolable after the final whistle and needed to be shielded from the cameras by some of his England team-mates.
We'll bring you all the latest post-match reaction as it filters through after yet another painful night on the international stage for the Three Lions.
Olivier Giroud heads home to restore France's one-goal lead just moments after forcing an incredible save from Jordan Pickford.
The Three Lions will now need to come from behind to stand any chance of reaching the World Cup semi-finals.
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There are just over 20 minutes remaining at the Al Bayt Stadium and it's heading to extra time as things stand.
You still get the feeling that either side could grab a winning goal before the full-time whistle blows, though.
It's going to be a crucial spell for England, who are still in with a great chance of reaching the World Cup semi-finals if they can keep a foot in the door.
The referee is certainly not doing England any favours tonight.
Bukayo Saka is shoved to the turf outside the area but no foul is given before France manage to push into England's half.
Antoine Griezmann tries to deliver a cross from the right-hand side but is quickly dispossessed by Jude Bellingham, who tracks back well to recover the ball.
Harry Kane races into the penalty area but is quickly closed down by Hugo Lloris.
The England skipper drags the ball into space and sends a floated cross to the back post but it's eventually hacked clear after a brief scramble for possession.
GOAL! England 0-1 France - Aurelien Tchouameni (17)
What a strike that is from Aurelien Tchouameni, who opens the scoring for France with a tremendous effort from outside the area!
England are too slow to close the ball down and fail to prevent Tchouameni from firing past Jordan Pickford and into the bottom corner of the net.
There may have been a foul on Bukayo Saka during the build-up, but nothing was given by the referee.
Gareth Southgate's men have it all to do now...
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Kylian Mbappe tries to pick out Olivier Giroud with a clipped delivery into the area before the latter fails to connect with a half-hearted swing of his leg.
France have remarkably never beaten England in a World Cup match, although they have only lost one of their last eight meetings with the Three Lions across all competitions.
They have played each other on 32 previous occasions and the balance has been in England's favour with 17 wins over France's tally of nine.
This is the first encounter between the two countries since 2017, when France managed to beat England in a friendly in Paris.
Gareth Southgate's men will be desperate to put things right this evening, though, with just 10 minutes until the action gets underway...
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has briefly spoken of his admiration for England skipper and fellow Tottenham ace Harry Kane ahead of kick-off this evening.
"I only have positive things to say, he's a very important player for the club and indeed for the England team as well," said Lloris.
"He's a real leader, an example for his team-mates and he is a top player. He's been decisive for his club and very often he makes the difference.
"Harry is known all over the world so I can't really add much. But he'll be an opponent. We'll both be representing our countries so our focus will be on that.
"You know better than me that Harry has the ability to shoot anywhere. He's one of the best probably at this aspect of the game."
Harry Kane will lead the line for England against France tonight (Image: GETTY)
"[The decision] is never simple, we have got strength in depth and you're always thinking about the opposition as well, but we've been on a good path and need to stay on that track," England boss Gareth Southgate tells ITV Sport.
"I think our midfield has been really important and you can lose a player in there with some back three systems. We feel we have got to get pressure on France and cut the supply by getting another player further up the pitch.
"It is belief and we need men on the pitch. In these big nights you need to stand up, you have go to the depths to be able to get a result.
"We're playing well and got confidence, this will be a huge test of that, but it feels great to be going into this match feeling like we do. We hope we can give everyone at home another evening to remember."
England will be desperately hoping to avoid a dreaded penalty shoot-out this evening despite winning their last one in the World Cup against Colombia four years ago.
Southgate has insisted that England have done their homework and will be ready to win again if spot-kicks are required to settle the scores, though.
"We have a plan but, of course, when you get to the end of the game maybe some players don't feel as confident or more confident," he told ITV on Friday.
"Those things have happened in previous shootouts but we're as well prepared as we can be."
Gareth Southgate told reporters earlier this week that he believes England are feared by their rivals and should be considered as one of the favourites to win their first World Cup since 1966 this year.
"I think there's always been a level of respect for England but I think we've got credibility now," he told reporters.
"To get to a semi-final then a final, I think the rest of the world believe that England are competitive and they know that we have performed under pressure a lot more in the last few years.
"When I travel around Europe and the world and meet football people, there's definitely a greater appreciation of what we've done."
France manager Didier Deschamps has also decided against making any changes, with their star-studded line-up boasting the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.
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There are plenty of England supporters in pubs and fan zones in Doha ahead of tonight's game and some have already offered their pre-match predictions...
England fans gather in Doha ahead of facing France
England will be forced to deal with the relentless attacking threat posed by Kylian Mbappe if they are to stand any chance of beating France tonight, with the 23-year-old having already scored five World Cup goals over the course of the tournament so far.
Southgate was quizzed on how England will defend against Mbappe earlier this week and said: "Clearly with France, they’ve got an outstanding player that if you can get extra bodies around him, it can’t be one person’s responsibility.
"We’ve obviously got a player who can deal with that as well as anybody I can think of but it can’t be just his responsibility and you’ve got to have zonal coverage on players like that.
"We also can’t let Antoine Griezmann have the run of the park because he’s a pretty good player himself so I think we always prepare for the team for.
"These are the patterns we see, these are the positions individual players like to take up, you go into certain detail that they need to know because they know it’s important in the biggest games but equally we’re doing that at the other end of the pitch as well."
Kylian Mbappe will be looking to work his magic against England this evening (Image: )
Gareth Southgate is widely expected to name an unchanged line-up against France this evening as England look to join Morocco in the World Cup semi-finals.
The Three Lions cruised past Senegal in their last outing, with goals from Jordan Henderson, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane securing a comfortable victory over the African champions.
England will reportedly field an unchanged side against France tonight (Image: GETTY)
We've just had a major shock in today's other World Cup quarter-final, with Morocco beating Portugal thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri's first-half goal at the Al Thumama Stadium!
They are the first African nation to reach the last four in the history of the tournament and will face either England or France for a place in the final on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo was one of several Portugal players in floods of tears as he trudged down the tunnel after the final whistle, with the one-time European champions heading home.
Morocco will play either France or England in the World Cup semi-finals (Image: GETTY)
Hello and welcome to Express Sport's live coverage as England do battle with France for a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
The big day has finally arrived, with millions of fans up and down the country set to be glued to the on-pitch action in Qatar over the course of this evening.
Will the Three Lions be able to send France packing with a historic victory at the Al Bayt Stadium? Or will the defending champions break English hearts by claiming the spoils for themselves?
Kick-off is in just under two hours and we'll be on hand to keep you updated with all the pre-game build-up before providing kick-by-kick updates when the match gets underway.
We'll also be bringing you the confirmed team news from both camps as soon as we have it.
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