World Cup 2022: England fall to France as Morocco make history

ENGLAND captain Harry Kane blazed a late penalty over the bar as the Three Lions were knocked out of the World Cup in the quarter finals. 

Tottenham Hotspur striker Kane had already found the net from 12 yards on 54 minutes after Bukayo Saka was brought down, as France attempted to protect their lead with a series of cynical fouls.

However, with only five minutes of normal time remaining, the 29-year-old could not repeat his success from the spot as England chased the game in vain.

Les Bleus had started the match well on top, pinning England back - and they took a deserved lead when Aurelien Tchouameni was given too much space to strike a low drive past Jordan Pickford.

It was a fast break from the French - but, earlier in the attack, the Three Lions should have been awarded a free-kick after Saka was fouled by the clumsy Dayot Upamecano.

Indeed, missed fouls became a running theme throughout the night - and it felt as if bungling Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio spent most of the match wandering around in a compete daze.

Shortly after the French goal, Kane appeared to have a good shout for a penalty turned down after a tangle of legs with Upamecano - but both the on-field officials and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) waved away the appeals.

At least, early in the second half, whistler Sampaio spotted the lively Saka had been upended by Les Bleus' goalscorer Tchouameni.

For the second penalty, though, England had the intervention of VAR to thank after the South American clown missed a blatant body check by Theo Hernandez on Mason Mount.

Except for the slow start, England played well and had chances throughout the match - Kane and Jude Bellingham drew good saves from Hugo Lloris either side of half time while Harry Maguire headed against the post with the score at 1-1.

But, immediately after a warning shot from an Olivier Giroud, England were hit by the sucker punch as the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker rose highest to restore the France lead.

And, on yet another night of shattered dreams for Three Lions fans, there was something of a painful inevitability about the way that, even without losing in a shootout, England's fate was then determined from 12 yards.

Much attention will turn now to the position of head coach Gareth Southgate, ironically after a far more convincing performance from his team than those produced by England in the 2018 World Cup semi final or the Euro 2020+1 Final.

A third knockout defeat will have been tough for him to take personally, though - and it may well be the case that Southgate, although contracted through to the end of Euro 2024, feels he has given it his best shot.

If he does leave, Southgate, at least, will bequeath his successor with a far better inheritance than he received himself in September 2016.

Back then, the 52-year-old effectively got the job by being in the right place at the right time in the wake of the Sam Allardyce reign which ended in scandal after just a single game.

Of course, earlier that year, England had been eliminated from Euro 2016 by Iceland in a humiliating defeat under Roy Hodgson.

Certainly then, England are in far better shape now than they were six years ago - this young, hungry team has growing tournament experience and is not finished yet.

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Elsewhere, both of the quarter finals held on Friday went to penalties as Argentina and Croatia got the better of the Netherlands and tournament favourites Brazil respectively.

A Seleção were ousted after a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes against extra time specialists Croatia, even though Neymar had found the breakthrough in extra time.

Any other team might have feared from their chances with the clock running down - but Croatians, predictably, hit back as Bruno Petkovic swept in a low cross from Mislav Orsic, and sent the match to spot kicks with their first shot on target.

In the shoot-out, Zlatko Dalic's men hit a perfect four out of four while Rodrygo and Marquinhos failed to find the net, and Neymar was left to wonder why he had elected to take the fifth penalty.

Brazil have now exited the World Cup at the quarter finals stage in four of the last five editions, while the only exception - on home soil in 2014 - ended in a humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi finals.

Later that night, Argentina achieved what Brazil could not by overcoming the Netherlands on penalties, despite having almost blown it late on.

Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi had put La Albiceleste two goals up but the Dutch then introduced former Burnley striker Wout Weghorst and a rather uncultured long-ball tactic.

It produced unexpectedly good results as Weghorst flicked in a header with seven minutes remaining then, in the 11th minute of stoppage time, won a free-kick on the edge of the box following a clumsy shove by German Pezzella in another aerial battle.

The resultant free-kick was brilliantly worked - reminiscent of that produced by the Argentines themselves against England at the 1998 World Cup - as, rather than electing to shoot, Tein Koopmeiners played a perfect pass for Weghorst to fire home.

A goalless period of extra time allowed both teams to catch their breath - and so, after an intemperate encounter featuring 17 yellow cards, it came to penalties again.

It is a facet of the game in which the Dutch have just as bad a history as England so, inevitably, Argentina won as Virgil Van Dijk and Steven Berghuis failed to score the Netherlands' first two penalties.

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Earlier, in this tournament of shocks, there were actually some sensational performances in the Last 16 by several of the top-ranked teams against sides for which this seemed like a bridge too far. 

Netherlands, France, England, Brazil, and Portugal scored a combined total of 19 goals as they easily dealt with United States, Poland, Senegal, South Korea, and Switzerland respectively.

Indeed, England made particularly light work of a tricky-looking encounter against the African Cup of Nations champions.

True, Pickford had to get down well to make a save with a strong left hand during an uncomfortable opening half hour at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

But, once Jordan Henderson finished off a swift break forward, the result was only going one way as Kane, in first half stoppage time, and Saka put the Three Lions three up.

Those mis-matches meant this edition of the Last 16 produced 28 goals, the most scored during this stage at a tournament since the round was reintroduced at the 1986 World Cup.

Brazil blitzed South Korea with four first half goals - and, on the following night, Portugal thumped six past Switzerland, though only after the sensational news that Cristiano Ronaldo had been replaced in the starting line-up by Goncalo Ramos.

The 21-year-old Benfica forward repaid the faith shown in him by head coach Fernando Santos by hitting the first hat-trick of the tournament on his maiden World Cup finals start. 

It was a remarkable turn of events against the usually solid Swiss. 

Elsewhere, Argentina had just about a good enough lead to hold off a late surge by Australia, while Croatia inevitably relied on extra time and penalties.

The Vatreni won all three of their knockout ties on their way to the Final of the 2018 World Cup after those matches were drawn in the first 90 minutes.

It was no surprise then to see them needing to go all the way again against Japan - and again against Brazil.

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The most significant story of the knockout stages, though, has been that of Morocco.

First, the Atlas Lions held their nerve to beat Spain on spot-kicks in the Last 16 after a 0-0 draw as La Roja failed to score any of their three attempts.

Morocco thus became the first ever Arab nation to make it as far as the quarter finals - while Spanish boss Luis Enrique stepped down from his position.

But the Moroccans were not finished - and overcame an out-of-sorts Portugal side which had again relegated Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench.

The unattached Ronaldo made an appearance early in the second half - but, by then, his team were behind after Youssef En-Nesyri leapt magnificently to score shortly before half time.

Portugal plugged away after the break - and, at times, laid relentless pressure on the Moroccan goal. 

Fernando Santos's men lacked real quality around the box, however - and Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou really only had to make one top class save to deny Joao Felix.

To be honest, it should come as much of a surprise that Morocco would become the first African team to reach the World Cup semi finals. 

After all, the Atlas Lions have long been the standard-bearers for the continent at World Cup finals, gaining the first ever point scored by an African team in 1970 while also being the first African team to get through a group stage in 1986.

Furthermore, this has been certainly no fluke with success built on a solid defence which has conceded just once in Qatar - that in itself was a harshly-awarded penalty.

However, the North Africans have also played some good stuff in attack and deserve to have made their breakthrough in front of their raucous supporters.

■ LAST 16

03-Dec	15:00	NETHERLANDS	3-1	UNITED STATES	Khalifa, Al Rayyan
BBC		Depay 10, Blind 45+1 Dumfries 81		Wright 76
03-Dec	19:00	ARGENTINA	2-1	AUSTRALIA	Ahmad bin Ali, Al Rayyan
BBC		Messi 35, Alvarez 57		Fernandez 77 og
04-Dec	15:00	FRANCE	3-1	POLAND	Al Thumama, Doha
BBC		Giroud 44, Mbappe 74, 90+1		Lewandowski 90+9 pen
04-Dec	19:00	ENGLAND	3-0	SENEGAL	Al Bayt, Al Khor
ITV		Henderson 38 Kane 45+3, Saka 57
05-Dec	15:00	JAPAN	1-1	CROATIA	Al Janoub, Al Wakrah
BBC		Maeda 43	aet	Perisic 55	Croatia won 3-1 on pens
05-Dec	19:00	BRAZIL	4-1	SOUTH KOREA	Stadium 974, Doha
ITV		Vinicius 7, Neymar 13 pen Richarlison 29, Paqueta 36		Paik Seung-ho 76
06-Dec	15:00	MOROCCO	0-0	SPAIN	Education City, Al Rayyan
ITV			aet		Morocco won 3-0 on pens
06-Dec	19:00	PORTUGAL	6-1	SWITZERLAND	Lusail Iconic, Lusail
ITV		Ramos 17, 51, 67, Pepe 33 Guerreiro 55, Leao 90+2		Akanji 58

■ QUARTER FINALS

09-Dec	15:00	CROATIA	1-1	BRAZIL	Education City, Al Rayyan
BBC		Petkovic 117	aet	Neymar 105+1	Croatia won 4-2 on pens
09-Dec	19:00	NETHERLANDS	2-2	ARGENTINA	Lusail Iconic, Lusail
BBC		Weghorst 83, 90+11	aet	Molina 35, Messi 73 pen	Argentina won 4-3 on pens
10-Dec	15:00	MOROCCO	1-0	PORTUGAL	Al Thumama, Doha
ITV		En-Nesry 42
04-Dec	19:00	ENGLAND	1-2	FRANCE	Al Bayt, Al Khor
ITV		Kane 54 pen		Tchouameni 17, Giroud 78

■ SEMI FINALS

13-Dec	19:00	ARGENTINA	3-0	CROATIA	Lusail Iconic, Lusail
ITV		Messi 34 pen, Alvarez 39, 69
14-Dec	19:00	FRANCE	2-0	MOROCCO	Al Bayt, Al Khor
BBC		Hernandez 5, Kolo Muani 79

■ SCORERS 163 goals in 62 matches - 2.63 per match
5 Kylian Mbappe (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina)
4 Julian Alvarez (Argentina), Olivier Giroud (France)

3 Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Goncalo Ramos (Portugal), Marcus Rashford (England), Richarlison (Brazil), Bukayo Saka (England), Enner Valencia (Ecuador)
2 Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon), Salem Al-Dawsari (Saudi Arabia), Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Uruguay), Ritsu Doan (Japan), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Niclas Fulkrug (Germany), Cho Gue-sung (South Korea), Kai Havertz (Germany), Harry Kane (England), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Mohammed Kudus (Ghana), Rafael Leao (Portugal), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia), Neymar (Brazil), Mehdi Taremi (Iran), Ferran Torres (Spain), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands)

1 Zakaria Aboukhlal (Morocco), Saleh Al-Shehri (Saudi Arabia), Manuel Akanji (Switzerland), Takuma Asano (Japan), Marco Asensio (Spain), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Gareth Bale (Wales), Michy Batshuayi (Belgium), Jude Bellingham (England), Daley Blind (Netherlands), Osman Bukari (Ghana), Moises Caicedo (Ecuador), Casimero (Brazil), Jean Charles Castelletto (Cameroon), Luis Chavez (Mexico), Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Iran), Jean-Eric Choupo-Moting (Cameroon), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Alphonso Davies (Canada), Frenkie De Jong (Netherlands), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Boulaye Dia (Senegal), Famara Diedhiou (Senegal), Bamba Dieng (Senegal), Mitchell Duke (Australia), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Joao Felix (Portugal), Enzo Fernandez (Argentina), Phil Foden (England), Remo Freuler (Switzerland), Keysher Fuller (Costa Rica), Gavi (Spain), Serge Gnabry (Germany), Craig Goodwin (Australia), Jack Grealish (England), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea), Jordan Henderson (England), Theo Hernandez (France), Ricardo Jorge da Luz Horta (Portugal), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia), Kim Young-gwon (South Korea), Davy Klaassen (Netherlands), Randal Kolo Muani (France), Mathew Leckie (Australia), Marko Livaja (Croatia), Alexis MacAllister (Argentina), Daizen Maeda (Japan), Nahuel Molina (Argentina), Lovro Majer (Croatia), Henry Martin (Mexico), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia), Mohammed Muntari (Qatar), Dani Olmo (Spain), Paik Seung-ho (South Korea), Lucas Paqueta (Brazil), Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbia), Pepe (Portugal), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Bruno Petkovic (Croatia), Christian Pulisic (United States), Adrien Rabiot (France), Ramin Rezaeian (Iran), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Romain Saiss (Morocco), Mohammed Salisu (Ghana), Ismail Sarr (Senegal), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Carlos Soler (Spain), Raheem Sterling (England), Ao Tanaka (Japan), Aurelien Tchouameni (France), Yeltsin Tejeda (Costa Rica), Vinicius Junior (Brazil), Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia), Timothy Weah (United States), Piotr Zielinski (Poland), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco)

3 own goals Nayed Aguerd (Canada) v Morocco, Manuel Neuer (Germany) v Costa Rica, Enzo Fernandez (Argentina) v Australia

■ RED CARDS
Wayne Hennessey (Wales) v Iran
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) v Brazil
Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands) v Argentina (QF)
Walid Cheddira (Morocco) v Portugal (QF)