England 1-2 France: Defending champions book semi-final berth | FIFA World Cup 2022

FIFA World Cup 2022 (Quarter-finals)

• England 1-2 France
• Morocco 1-0 Portugal
• Argentina 2 (4) – 2 (3) Netherlands
• Brazil 1 (2) – 1 (4) Croatia

FIFA World Cup reigning champions France qualified for the 2022 semi-finals at the expense of England.

France overcame England 2-1 during the last quarter final at the Al Bayt stadium in Qatar.

Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud scored in either half for Didier Deschamps’ coached side.

English captain Harry Kane scored a penalty and unfortunately missed another that would have pushed the match into extra-time.

Tchouameni opened the scoring business as early as the 17^th minute with a well drilled shot past goalkeeper Pickford as France took the 1-0 lead by the mandatory half time break.

England returned a better side and won a penalty converted by skipper Kane in the 54^th minute.

Giroud headed home his fourth goal of the tournament with 12 minutes to play.

England missed the opportunity to make amends when Kane ballooned over a penalty in the 85^th minute.

France has now qualified for the semi-finals, in line for the third FIFA World Cup crown after the 1998 and 2018 success scripts when they hosted and won the coveted title.

The “Les Blues” face Morocco in Wednesday’s semi-final show-down at the Al Bayt stadium.

A ten-man Morocco side ejected Portugal 1-0 with Youssef En-Nesyri’s 42^nd minute towering header.

The other semi-final will come on Tuesday, 13^th December 2022 between Latin Americans Argentina and Croatia at Lusail Iconic stadium.

Argentina eliminated Netherlands 4-3 in post-match penalties after a 2-all stalemate in normal time.

On the other hand, Croatia dumped out the record winners Brazil 2-4 in post-match penalties after 1-all draw in 120 minutes of mouth-watering action.

The third-place play-off match will come on Saturday, 17^th December at Khalifa International stadium prior to the big final on Sunday, 18^th December 2022.