Breaking: France Edge England to Set up S’final Clash with Morocco 

Reigning champions France defeated England 2-1 in a thrilling quarter final fixture at the Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday night to set up a semi final clash with Africa’s history makers, Morocco, on Wednesday here in Qatar.

AC Milan’s Olivier Giroud fired the winner  in 78th minute shortly after Harry Kane equalised Aurelien Tchouameni’s 17th minute strike from a distance through a spot kick in 54th minute. 

The England captain’s equalizing strike was his 53rd international goal  which equalled Wayne Rooney’s tally of 53 goals all-time England scorer.

But what would have taken Kane beyond Rooney’s tally to become the new owner of that all-time England scorer was ballon over the bar from another penalty spot given to the Three Lions.

Without doubt, the Three Lions were the better of the two teams for long spells and created chances. England have been accused of making timid exits at major tournaments in the past but this charge cannot be levelled at Gareth Southgate and his players here.

They matched France well with Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice outstanding, so this will be a painful loss as a route to their first World Cup final since 1966 appeared to be opening up, with the winners here facing a semi-final against underdogs Morocco.

Sadly for England and Southgate, they were unable to take the chances that came their way, and they ran into France keeper Hugo Lloris at his best.

And it will be Kane who feels the disappointment most acutely after missing that second England penalty six minutes from time with the all-time England goalscoring record at his feet.

There was a palpable sense of disbelief around the stadium as this most reliable of penalty takers fired his spot-kick horribly high into England’s fans behind the goal.

France will meet Morocco in the semi-final at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.