Doha: England (ranked 5) and France (ranked 4) clashed in the last quarter-final match at Al Bayat Arena yesterday.
Expectations were high as it was a match between top ranked teams. Also, the current champion England, who won the European (Euro) Cup, and the current champion France, who has the World Cup in hand, were on the field, so there was extra excitement not only in the stadium but also throughout the football world, and accordingly, both teams showed speed in the game in order to advance to the semi-finals. England, led by Harry Kane, were often involved in scoring attempts.
The French, led by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, responded. As a result, in the 17th minute of the game, Aurelian received a ball knocked down by his teammate Grisman and scored a brilliant goal from outside the goal area. So the French team took a 1-0 lead. England players got extra speed and tried to score. France goalkeeper Hugo skillfully stopped them. So the first half ended 1-0.
Then in the 58th minute of the 2nd half, England’s Bugayo Saka went down after being fouled by France’s Aurelian. So the England team was given a ‘penalty kick’ opportunity. Harry used it correctly and turned it into a beautiful goal. So the game was tied at 1-1. In the 78th minute of the game, as the clash continued, Griezmann hit the ball towards the goal area and Olivier hit his head and scored an amazing goal. So France took a 2-1 lead. England players were struggling to bring the game back to balance. Then the French player Theo Herandez pushed away the English player Jude Bellingham who came to score in their goal area.
So after a review, England got a ‘penalty kick’ chance in the 81st minute. Harry’s attempt to seize that opportunity ended in failure. The England fans in the arena were devastated as they let a good chance slip away. Efforts by the England players to rescue the fans from the tragedy were futile. So France won 2-1 to end the match. Euro champions England were outplayed in every way by the reigning champions, leaving their 56-year trophy dream in tatters.