90min

Twitter reacts as England exit World Cup with France defeat

By Henry Burt

Kane's shock penalty miss decided the game
Kane's shock penalty miss decided the game / Ian MacNicol/GettyImages
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England are out of the World Cup once again, having succumbed to a spirited performance by France to lose 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

It was a brave and at times thrilling performance from the Three Lions, who dominated swathes of the match and had a crucial chance to equalise when Harry Kane blazed a late penalty over the bar.

As always, Twitter was abuzz with activity during the match and we've selected some choice tweets collected over the 90 minutes.

The game started off at pace, with both sides looking to push up and quickly move the ball into threatening areas. With barely 15 minutes on the clock, France found the breakthrough with a rasping drive from Aurelien Tchouameni.

England responded well to the setback and continued to push for a goal of their own, leading to the biggest flashpoint of the first half when Harry Kane was controversially denied a penalty.

With a number of decisions going against the Three Lions, it's safe to say that fans weren't best pleased with the standard of officiating.

While we'd never want to suggest that England fans might be slightly biased, claims of the referee's corruption seemed to fall flat when he awarded England a penalty shortly after the break.

Kane duly stepped up and converted to send England fans into raptures.

One of the big talking points leading up to the match was the battle between Kylian Mbappe and Kyle Walker down England's right flank, with Southgate alleged to have devised a plan to tackle the forward. Suffice to say, it didn't work terribly well.

Before long, however, attention turned back to referee Wilton Sampaio after he seemed to overlook France's players repeatedly fouling the energetic Bukayo Saka.

It was beginning to look like the tide was turning in England's favour. Enter Olivier Giroud.

Having been all but marked out of the game for 75 minutes, France's all-time leading goalscorer popped up in the box to meet Antoine Griezmann's gorgeous cross with a thumping header to make it 2-1.

But less than five minutes later, England had a chance to draw level again after another clumsy foul earned the Three Lions a second penalty.

To the shock of just about everyone watching the game, Kane was not able to add his second goal and blazed the penalty over the bar, spurning a glorious chance for England to equalise.

Not content to accept that their side had simply lost to a superior set of players, fans quickly began dissecting and criticising Southgate's choices during the match to find a reason for England's exit. Good luck, Gareth!

Whether Southgate stays on as England manager after this World Cup remains to be seen - but either way, it could be a long few months for the former Middlesbrough boss.

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