Thrashing Senegal, 3-0, saw us through to the next round, where we would face France in the quarter finals. We have been on form recently; however, there have been times where we look a bit sloppy and if we showed that in this game then we would have no chance at heading into the semi-finals. France were a difficult team with some of the most skilful and talented players in the world. Could we hold our nerve at the back (where we have been the weakest) and make every chance count?
The starting eleven had no change from our last game and it still consisted of: Pickford (in goal); Walker; Stones; Maguire; Shaw (as the back four); Henderson; Rice; bellingham (in the middle); Kane; Foden and saka (as the front three). This team worked superbly together in our previous game, and could they carry on the good fortune against this tough opponent?
In the first period, France were very dominant and took control of the game. The way they pass is accurate and quick, England ended up losing track on who had the ball. Every time they attacked it was always dangerous and threatening - we were fortunate not to concede more than we did. They always ended up in our box; however, we were able to hold them off - it was a miracle to be honest as our defence was weak and vulnerable. We had too many gaps in our defence, which allowed French players to run through us, and all it took was one pass into the gaps and they were on for a goal scoring opportunity. As I said in my previous report: we needed to be tighter at the back if we have any sort of chance at winning this game; however, we ended up conceding in the first 20 minutes due to some poor defending. France took the ball from us in our own box and drove up the pitch. Mbappe ran with it until he got pressured into passing it to his teammate. The ball went from one edge of the box to the other in seconds, and that is when it was passed to Tchouameni where he took a shot, at least 20 metres, out and bolted it into the back of the net. The problem with this was how easy the passing was; each player had no man marking them, which gave the French players time and space. We need to be closing down whoever has the ball and forcing them to make a pressured pass. After this goal went in, France looked for more and they hardly let us into the game. Towards the end, we had a couple of minor chances and we should have been awarded a penalty - even if it was outside the box we should have been given a free kick. A poor decision from the referee and nothing else came from the half.
It ended 0-1 to France, as expected.
Both the teams came back onto the pitch unchanged, and England desperately needed to switch on if we wanted any chance at being victorious.
In the second half, we started off really well; we looked threatening and we had a lot of time on the ball. We had many chances and we were unlucky not to score any of them. Nine minutes after kick off, we had the best opportunity of the game given to us. Saka was brought down in the box and he was on for a great scoring opportunity as well. The referee instantly blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. In the first half, he did not not award us that penalty - even though it obviously was - so I was highly surprised to see him give this to us. Harry Kane was put up for the job and he fired the ball into the top left corner of the goal sending his teammate - at Tottenham - the wrong way. This was a relief and we were back into the game with 36 minutes still to play. Straight after this goal, though, we switched off at the back and France were given the opportunity to go in front seconds after we drew level. Fortunately, it was not the best of shots from the French attacker and Pickford punched it away. This should not have happened and we could not afford to do this throughout the remainder of the match.
But, that was mainly it from France for a while and England comfortably took control of the game. Many opportunities came our way and there were so many times where we could have gone in front. France had no time on the ball and whenever they did we did well to pressure them and take it back off them. Why couldn't we do this throughout the full game? France were kept quiet and Mbappe was not able to run riot, like he normally does. A couple of substitutes were made in the 79th minute; however a minute before they were brought on France went in front, again. An accurate and amazing cross was made by Griezmann that ended up being perfect for Giroud to fire the ball into the net. We could not do much about this and it was a brilliantly created goal. Heartbreak for the England fans. But some hope was still there minutes after this as Mount was fouled in the area. At first, the referee thought nothing of it and it was not until our players protested that he checked it. He was advised to go to the screen himself and after a couple of checks he ran back, blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. Harry Kane was, again, put up for the job and he made the worst kick I have seen. He powered the ball over the goal putting England fans into despair. I do not want to talk much more about the game but let's just say that the referee ended up being very biased and nothing went our way, despite the two penalties he awarded us. It was just the way that he gave all of the free kicks to France whenever it mattered and it took a lot of protests until he gave anything our way. When we fouled France he blew the whistle with no hesitation but when they fouled us it took him ages to decide.
Overall, I do not think that we played badly and In my opinion we outplayed France. Unfortunately, a penalty miss and a useless referee resulted in us losing and our World Cup journey has come to an end.
A Good apprisal of the match!..well done and well wrote Jack!