England-France 1-2: goals from Tchouameni, Kane and Giroud

France will challenge surprise Morocco in the semi-final on Wednesday. In the first encounter in a knockout match against England at the World Cup, Les Bleus suffered but prevailed thanks to goals from Tchouameni and Giroud. The AC Milan player, who hit the fourth goal in four matches in Qatar, was more decisive this time than the Mbappé phenomenon. The English would not have deserved the knockout for what they created, but they missed the 2-2 penalty with Kane (who had instead scored the 1-1 one) and faced an excellent Lloris, author of decisive saves.

Gioia Tchouameni

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France had got off to a better start thanks above all to the initiatives that developed on the right. Griezmann, behind Giroud in the 4-2-3-1 formation, was decentralizing to duet with Dembelé and put Shaw in difficulty, not adequately covered by Foden. England, lined up with the usual 4-3-3, struggled to activate their wingers, initially well controlled, and so it was the world champions who took control of the match and took the lead. They had a general rehearsal with a header from Giroud following a cross from Dembele, but they found the 1-0 with a long-range shot from Tchouameni that went between Bellingham’s legs and settled behind a Pickford late. The goal of Kanté’s substitute shook Southgate’s men who raised the pace and advanced the center of gravity thanks to the non-existent pressing of the opponents: the English held the ball more and above all hammered on the right, with Saka and with Kane. Lloris was called upon to be rejected twice by his Tottenham teammate who also retreated in midfield to seal the game and create gaps. The Three Lions returned to the locker room by a goal, but giving the impression of being more inside the match because they had shown more quality and danger. The top scorer of the World Cup, Mbappé, who passed away after a promising start Griezmann, was not very incisive.

KANE, EQUAL AND ERROR

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England also started the second half strong with a blow from Bellingham which was lifted after a few seconds by Lloris, still the star. France made too many mistakes in dribbling especially with Rabiot and Mbappé and so the English often managed to recover the ball in the danger zone. The draw came thanks to an ingenuity by Tchouameni who knocked Saka down in the area: penalty kick and peremptory conversion by Kane, now first together with Wayne Rooney in the ranking of His Majesty’s national team scorers (53 goals). For the first time in the World Cup, France were in clear difficulty and, even if a shot by Rabiot (saved) and an acceleration by Mbappé (wasted by Dembelé) tried to cheer them up a bit, England had more fuel and clearer ideas. He often relied on Saka, who put Theo Hernandez in difficulty, but above all he had numerical superiority in the middle of the field. Maguire headed the post and the English 2-1 seemed in the air. But since football isn’t an exact science, it was Les Bleus who took the lead again, with Giroud’s fourth world center. The AC Milan player had a general rehearsal with a left-footed shot from Dembelé’s cross, which was saved by Pickford and then headed the ball into the hole following Griezmann’s cross. France seemed to have brought the English to their knees who instead had the opportunity to equalize with a penalty that Kane kicked high and that the uncertain Sampaio had conceded thanks to the Var (Theo Hernandez pushed on the new entry Mount). Southgate didn’t give up and tried to throw Rashford into the fray too, who came close to equalizing in the 10th minute of stoppage time, but it was Deschamps’ men who gained access to Wednesday’s semi-final against Morocco.