France edge England in World Cup quarter-final as Kane misses late penalty

England's World Cup journey came to an end in Qatar after they were beaten 2-1 by defending champions France in the quarter-final on Sunday.

In a first ever World Cup knockout meeting between the two nations, England fell behind in the opening 17 minutes.

After a desperate challenge from Declan Rice, England dropped too deep into their own area which allowed space for Antoine Griezmann to roll the ball across for Aurellen Tchouameni, who from the edge of the box, cracked an excellent strike into the bottom corner past a helpless Jordon Pickford.

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England had a frustrating evening with VAR, protesting that Bukayo Saka was fouled prior to France's opening goal, and shortly after when captain Harry Kane tumbled over in the box under a challenge from Dayot Upamecano.

England started the second half positively, and were rewarded nine minutes into it when Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was fouled out in the box by Tchouameni.

Kane, after being made to wait, converted the penalty in his usual emphatic fashion, to take him level with Wayne Rooney's England scoring record of 53 goals and meant he'd scored more penalties in normal time at World Cups than any player ever.

Then followed an unbelievable few minutes, as Adrien Rabiot almost caught England out seconds after the restart when he forced a save from Jordan Pickford, while Harry Maguire hit the edge of the post with a header from Jordan Henderson's free-kick.

Just as it looked like France were becoming rattled in the game, they hit the front once more with an outstanding piece of quality with 12 minutes to go.

Antoine Griezmann's whipped cross from the left hand side was headed into the back of net by France's all-time goal scorer Olivier Giroud, as England hearts were broken.

Incredibly though, England were given another chance to level up the contest, as two minutes later another penalty was awarded by VAR, as Theo Hernandez barged into England substitute Mason Mount, when he chased a long ball.

Kane was on duty again, but this time got it so wrong, blazing the ball over the bar, to the delight of the French players, who swarmed their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in celebration.

There was one more chance for England at the end of the game, but Marcus Rashford's free kick went narrowly off target to ensure France kept their dream alive of trying to be the first ever nation to win back-to-back World Cups.

After the game, Harry Kane believed he couldn't have faulted the preparation he made for his penalties, and said it was just a poor execution on the night.

Speaking to ITV Kane said: "I'm always someone who prepares for getting one or two penalties in a game, I always have an idea for what I want to do. I can't fault my preparation or anything like that, it was just the execution on the night.

"The first pen was great, the second one I didn't quite hit it how I wanted to. I have to take it on the chin, it will hurt for sure, the whole game will hurt. As the captain, I'll take that, but I couldn't be prouder of the boys.

"It comes down to a small detail I'll take responsibility for. I'm not worried about the team and how it will impact them. We have some great talent."