France beat England to set up Morocco semi-final: 2022 World Cup result

Gareth Southgate has admitted he is unsure whether to continue as England manager and “needs time”’ to make the “right decision” over his future after a World Cup quarter-final defeat by France.

“Whenever I finish these tournaments I have needed time to take the correct decisions,” Southgate said.

“Emotionally you go through so many different feelings. The energy that it takes to get through these tournaments is enormous.

“I want to make the right decision, whatever that is — for the team, for England, for the FA. And I’ve got to be sure that whatever decision I make is the right one.

“I think it’s right to take a bit of time to do that. I know in the past how my feelings have fluctuated in the immediate aftermath of tournaments.

“The decisions to go again is a lot of energy and you’ve got to make sure you’re ready for that; there’s (European) qualifiers in March. “Tonight there is too much in my head to think logically about any of that.

“I wanted to focus totally on this tournament and to approach it the way that we have. I think we’ve given a really good account of ourselves to the rest of the world, but in the end only one team wins. We wanted to win and tonight we’ve just fallen short.”

Harry Kane has said that he “felt as confident for the first penalty as I did the second one” and that his decisive spot-kick miss will “hurt for a long time”.

England’s World Cup campaign ended in disappointment in Qatar as they lost 2-1 to reigning champions France in the quarter-finals.

Kane blazed a late penalty over the bar after Olivier Giroud had scored France’s second.

The England captain had earlier scored from the spot to cancel out Aurelien Tchouameni’s brilliant 25-yard drive, which beat Jordan Pickford low to his right.

After the match Kane said that he “felt confident” about his second penalty, but that the pain of missing would stay with him for “a long time”.

“It comes down to execution and as the captain I take that on the chin, and that responsibility, missing the penalty, it’s hard, it’s hard to take for sure,” he said.

“Whenever I prepare, I prepare for if I get one penalty, getting two penalties. I can’t fault my preparation or the detail in the lead-up. I felt as confident for the first as I did for the second. It purely comes down to execution.

“It hurts now and it will hurt for a long time. But that’s part of being captain and being a leader in the team.”

France captain Hugo Lloris has said he “shares this moment of pain” with Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Harry Kane, after the England skipper missed a deceive penalty in the World Cup quarter-final.

Lloris said after the win that his team-mates “deserved credit” for the victory but that he sympathised with his Spurs colleague Kane.

Lloris said: “I want to be honest with you, with all the emotions, it’s a big match, it was a key moment. The man that I am have to be honest, we are team-mates, I respect him a lot. Kane took the responsibility at a key moment in the match.

“Fortunately for the French team he missed. I know he is strong and he may not think about it for too long. I can share this moment of pain with him. I didn’t speak to Harry after the match.

“We have to savour this moment in the dressing room. It’s a big moment. It’s England. We did a very good job. The French players deserve the credit. We have to prepare for the next battle.”

"It's the World Cup, we played against a very good English team, we knew it would be difficult from start to finish. We have to do better in the two situations, the first one where I tried to anticipate a bit too much. In the end we won the match, which means that we did our job up front. We'll have to review certain things but we're confident."

On his goal: "I had the same action against Poland, it was a good shot but this one was even sharper. I often work on that with coach (Carlo) Ancelotti in Madrid."

On facing Morocco next: "It's a World Cup semi-final, it's going to be a tough match from start to finish. We are trying to stay calm because nothing is done, we haven't won anything yet. You can't underestimate a team in the semi-final. They're a top team, they've only conceded one goal and, even then, it wasn't even the opponent who scored it. We know we're going to face a great team and we'll have to be at our best to win."

(Photo: Getty Images)

Our writers have analysed the key talking points from this match, including:

• France are the overwhelming favourites now
• This result will haunt Kane and England
• Record-breaking Lloris drives France on
• Harry Kane and a tale of three penalties
• On a quiet day, Mbappe still makes an impact
• Bellingham v Tchouameni: who had the bigger impact?
• Saka impresses as England target the right-hand side

Adrien Rabiot has said it was “justice” Harry Kane missed his second penalty kick against France because there “was no way” England should have received the decision.

After the match, Rabiot said: “First of all, I’m not sure that it’s really a foul. We’ve seen hundreds of actions like that that aren’t given.

“I thought the refereeing was a bit borderline at times tonight, but we won’t linger on that. Of course, when he missed, we were happy, it was justice because there was no penalty.

“But sometimes you also need that bit of luck, of success. We had it tonight, everything came together. We are really proud to reach the semi-final in this way.”

(Photo: Getty Images)

Didier Deschamps praised England's side after their loss to France: "England were very good. They have quality in all areas of the pitch. Now sometimes it’s the slightest little thing. A pass can go too heavy, not enough, but we created two goals, created opportunities.

"On set pieces they were very strong. They showed before tonight they can be very dangerous on set-pieces, half the goals they scored before tonight. Very strong on transition, on counter-attack, and as soon as they get the ball back they can score very quickly.

"At this level you have to be able to attack and score goals, but you also have to be able to defend for long periods and not concede too many fouls. We conceded two penalties unfortunately. They’re so quick, so strong, so energetic that we had to defend very well and we won the game. We deserved it, but the other team was also very strong tonight."

(Photo: Getty Images)

Didier Deschamps had this to say after France's win: "England have a very good team and what they showed in terms of technical ability, intensity, even though we put up a good fight, was impressive. I regret the fact we gave them a penalty, and then another penalty, which was missed, but credit my team as well.

"We did some good things. We were dangerous and we have great quality. We also have impressive mental strength. We also have experience, but England have experience as well. They have some young players but they’re young players who play in some of the top teams in Europe. It comes down to details and luckily it went our way. Sometimes you need a bit of luck."

On his future managing France: "I’ll be manager for the semi-final. That much you know. After that, we’ll see. I don’t know everything in advance, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. It’s great to have reached the semi-final and let’s savour this victory. Four years after winning the World Cup, we’re now in the last four and for now I’m not thinking of anything else.

"I think all four semi-finalists are equally strong. The four strongest teams in the World Cup. Some teams might have been stronger, but they’ve been knocked out. All four teams left all have a chance of getting to Sunday’s final. They’ve managed to get there by being better than their opponents. Those games have been very different. There’s always a winner and a loser in these games, but now we have the lucky four in the semi-finals and we’re lucky to be one of them."

(Photo: Getty Images)

Our American readers can find the highlights of this match here:

This elimination is certainly a big opportunity missed for England, but they're not Belgium, this isn't the end of the line for a golden generation here.

The country has so much young talent already in the squad, and plenty more maturing and waiting in the wings as well.

England are likely to still be one of the favourites for 2026.

Southgate has just been asked about his future: “After every tournament you sit and reflect. Tonight I have to pick the players and staff up. I need a bit of time to think about everything else.”

Gareth Southgate spoke to ITV after the loss: "I've just said to the players, I don't think they could have given any more. They've played really well against a top team and fine margins at both ends have ended up deciding the game. I think the way they've progressed throughout this tournament as a group has been fantastic.

"It's pointless me going into that (the referee); I'd rather talk about our players - and congratulations to France. They know they've been in a game. I don't think we could have done any more.

"We win and lose as a team - we've let a couple of goals in and we've missed a couple of chances, but (Kane's) been incredible for us, so reliable in those sorts of situations. We wouldn't be here but for the goals he's scored for us."

When asked whether it feels like an opportunity missed, Southgate said: "Yeah. We were here to try and win the tournament. We had belief we could and I think we showed with the performance tonight against the reigning champions that we've got a team that could have done that."

On whether he'll stay in the post of manager: "After every tournament, we've sat and reviewed and reflected and then it needs a little bit of time to make sure that everybody makes the right decisions."

(Photo: Getty Images)

Kyle Walker had this to say after England's loss: "We knew they would try to hurt us on the counter. But it’s football and anything can happen. Things could have swung our way and we just have to deal with it. We’re not sore losers, we won’t blame anybody else. We’ll move on.

"Look at the shots on goal. I feel the lads put in a great shift and the game plan worked well. We definitely had more possession than them. But it’s about being clinical in the box.

"It’s football, you need to put the ball in the net. We’re disappointed. The group of players we have in there is something special. We win together, we lose together."

The World Cup semi-final will be the first meeting between France and Morocco in a major tournament. They've played one another in friendlies and in minor tournaments such as the Mediterranean Games, but never on a stage nearly this big.

The last time they faced off on the pitch was in November 2007: a 2-2 draw at the Stade de France in Paris.

In seven total prior meetings, France are unbeaten against Morocco (3W 4D).

(Photo: Getty Images)