England were knocked out of the 2022 World Cup by France in another phenomenal game of the tournament. The quarterfinal duel was won by the reigning champions thanks to goals from Aurélien Tchouaméni and Olivier Giroud. Ultimately, referee decisions and penalties ended up being the main talking points of the game.
England stole in the first half
England thought they were going to be awarded a penalty in the first half of the match. Forward Harry Kane was brought down by Dayot Upamecano just on the edge of the French box. Despite the players’ protests, the referee for the match, Wilton Sampaio, did not award the penalty.
VAR also took a look at the incident, but nothing was given. Along with the England team, many fans and pundits took to Twitter to discuss the apparent offence. It certainly seemed to many that Kane was, in fact, fouled. VAR can, in fact, agree that there was a foul but insist that the offense occurred outside the box.
However, England were awarded two penalties in the second half. Bukayo Saka was brought down inside the box by striker Tchouaméni. Kane scored the penalty against his Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris. The French goalkeeper has played with Kane at Spurs for a decade.
The English striker was unable to take advantage of another penalty late in the game. Defender Theo Hernandez hit Mason Mount inside the penalty area with less than 10 minutes left on the clock.
The striker fails to convert a great opportunity
Sampaio did not initially consider the incident a foul; however, VAR insisted that he check the field-side monitor. The penalty was eventually awarded to England. However, Kane dodged the shot over the crossbar and the Three Lions lost the match 2–1.
The shot was Kane’s 11th penalty miss in 69 total attempts during his career. England fans will surely despise penalty kicks by now. The team also lost the 2020 European Championship final to Italy in a penalty shootout.
