It was a pretty bad time to rifle an equalizing PK over the crossbar.
England had its chances in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar. But like Christiano Ronaldo and Portugal, the British are going home.
After Olivier Giroud scored the go-ahead goal for France in the 78th minute, England had a chance to equalize just moments later when Theo Hernandez committed a foul in the box. Stepping up to the spot for England in the crucial moment against goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was Harry Kane – who had just buried a penalty kick in the 54th minute.
But this time, Kane’s penalty kick was off by a wide margin. He rifled his right-footed attempt well over the crossbar and into the stands.
Kane was undoubtedly disappointed at the miss.
But England fans watching back home were distraught. At this watch party that Fox Sports shared a clip from, screams and gasps can easily be heard as Kane misfired on the kick.
And while England fans were saddened, some folks had jokes. This is sports, after all.
England added to its feeling of heartbreak when, at the death of the match, it missed on another game-tying opportunity.
In the 100th minute, Marcus Rashford lined up for a free kick from just outside the top of the semicircle. His right-footed attempt was so close that it went just over the crossbar before banging off the back stanchion of the net.
With the 2-1 victory, France becomes the first defending champ of the men’s World Cup to advance to the semifinals since 1998. And with France’s victory, the semifinals are set: France will face Morocco – an unlikely Cinderella – on Wednesday, while Argentina will take on Croatia on Tuesday. Among the teams remaining, the odds are in France’s favor to repeat as champs. The men’s World Cup has not seen a team win back-to-back crowns since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Since winning the World Cup in 1966, England has advanced past the quarterfinals just twice, 1990 and 2018. It finished in fourth place both times.
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