So, it is all over for another World Cup campaign, and unfortunately, once again, England just fell short when it mattered most. To be fair, it was pretty obvious that they did not receive the rub of the green, especially from a very poor referee, but then again, when do we ever get that little bit of good fortune? In the end France went through, some would say, a little luckily, but you make your own luck in football, and that is something England must learn.

This match actually turned out to be one of, if not the best, game of the whole tournament so far. Early on, both sides went hell for leather trying to gain the upper hand, and for the first five minutes it was nip and tuck. England were going long at times, not a bad ploy against a French side with suspect defensive speed. On ten minutes France won a corner, and from it Olivier Giroud saw a low header saved by Jordan Pickford. It was a warning for England as the old campaigner, often a thorn against England, had to be watched very carefully. Meanwhile, Declan Rice was working his socks off, and the West Ham man was in fine form all night.

The one thing that England needed from a fairly bright start was the first goal, but on 17 minutes it was France who broke the deadlock. Bukayo Saka was blatantly fouled on the edge of the French penalty area, but the referee amazingly decided to ignore it. From the breakaway the ball was teed up to Aurelien Tchouameni, and his shot from range beat Pickford, a shot that the goalkeeper would be disappointed to concede. Defenders not closing down the player quick enough did not help, and from an England perspective, it was a poor goal all round. Having said that the non-decision on Saka being fouled was inexcusable.

Over the next fifteen minutes England came back strongly, Hugo Lloris saving from Luke Shaw, and then the goalkeeper excelled again when he thwarted Harry Kane. On 25 minutes Kane was blatantly fouled in the box. Again the referee did nothing, VAR was checked, although what they see in these VAR studios is often different to what the fans see. On 29 minutes, Lloris's personal battle with his Tottenham clubmate Kane continued with a fine save. From the resultant corner, somehow, France scrambled the ball away. They were living on a knife edge at times. And their players were rattled, with several more blatant fouls going unpunished. How Antoine Griezmann did not receive more than one booking in the first-half only the ref could tell you, as the player committed several outrageous fouls.

On the 39th minute the subdued Kylian Mbappe shot over with his only real chance of the game, with Kyle Walker keeping the French star very quiet. The half ended at 1-0 to the French, but that was an unjust scoreline after a spirited showing by England. Immediately after the restart Jude Bellingham was brought down by Adrien Rabiot, for another yellow card. Had the ref been issued new instructions perhaps? Two minutes into the half, so near to an England goal as Lloris, such a pain in the rear end, saves a fine shot by Bellingham with his fingertips. Does he ever play this well for Spurs one wonders? From the corner, Harry Maguire came oh so close to an equaliser. When Mbappe then went down theatrically, a foul was given, and at the time I wrote, "This ref is going to cost us!"

On 54 minutes the Brazilian ref actually spotted a foul on Saka by Tchouameni, and this time, oh joy, he gave England a penalty. Personally, I couldn't watch as Kane took his penalty, I didn't need to worry as the familiar kiss of the ring and punching of the air gave me all I needed to know. Back came France though and this time it was Pickford's time to shine as he did well to keep out a Rabiot shot. Two minutes later there was plenty of panic in the England area, but the Three Lions escaped. On the hour both sides were desperate for the upper hand, making it an exciting game to watch. Saka tested Lloris twice more, Griezmann blatantly brought down Phil Foden, a foul that should have seen the Frenchman with at least a second yellow. Saka was giving the French defenders headaches and twice he threatened again as he was brought down. From the free-kick, Maguire's header so nearly gave England the lead, with ball scraping a post. That could have so easily been the turning point, but as it turned out, France were again the ones to strike.

Bellingham was brought down, without punishment, much to his disgust, and when Theo Hernandez centred from the left, only a brilliant save from Pickford stopped Giroud from scoring. England's fans, and me, thought we had cleared the danger, but almost immediately another cross came in from the left and this time Giroud buried his header past Pickford. It was a fine header, but where were the defenders? It had to be Giroud though didn't it?

Gareth Southgate made two changes with Jordan Henderson and, surprisingly, Saka going off, with Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling coming on. Within seconds Mount was into the box, looking a certain scorer when he was barged to the ground with the most blatant of fouls by Hernandez, making no attempt to play the ball. The referee's decision.....Play On! Unbelievable. In the end he was persuaded to consult VAR, and it was a definite penalty, but not only that, should have resulted in a red card for Hernandez.

Once again, I couldn't watch as Kane stepped up. Just got the feeling it wasn't quite right. Sadly, this time it was the French who were jumping for joy as Kane blasted the ball well over the crossbar. It was so un-Kane like, but sadly it was the death knell for England.

With eight minutes added on, there was still hope, and when Maguire was fouled on the edge of the box with seconds to go, the free-kick was entrusted to substitute Marcus Rashford. His dipping shot scraped the top of the net with Lloris beaten, much to the agony of all England fans watching.

And not a lot more to say, as the game ended, once again, with England so near yet so far. The one fear was that they would go out with a whimper, but nothing could be further from the truth. England played really well for long spells in this match, but France have learned the way to win these type of important games, something that so far England have failed to do. None of the team could be faulted though and in the main they are a young team that should only get better over the next few years. Let's hope so anyway.
  

For Angela Paynexxxx

Source Notes