England exit World Cup LIVE: Referee criticised after ‘nightmare’ as Harry Kane accepts penalty blame

Might not be a night which England fans want to sear into their memories, but it was still a game of importance and moments of high quality which neutrals (and France supporters!) would have appreciated.

Here are the best images on the night from Al Bayt Stadium:

Captain Kane had cancelled out Aurelien Tchouameni’s opener for France with one spot-kick but fired over from a later opportunity as an Olivier Giroud header proved decisive.

Neville, working as a pundit for ITV, said: “I’m absolutely gutted for Harry Kane and gutted for the lads. They played really well in the second half. It was a 50-50 game and we’ve just come out the wrong side.

“You wouldn’t want anyone else to take that penalty. It would have made him England’s greatest-ever goalscorer. The heartbreak. They’ve worked so hard through all the qualifying games and have now got to wait four years to do it again.”

Gareth Southgate delivered a positive message to his beaten England players after their World Cup exit at the hands of France in the quarter-finals.

Olivier Giroud hit the winner for the world champions, with Harry Kane missing a second spot kick to pull England level at Al Bayt Stadium.

Southgate insists England could not have done any more, while also detailing the immediate conversation with his heartbroken squad in the changing room at full-time.

“I think our performance did [deserve more], but goals are decisive,” Southgate told ITV. “But I just said to the players, I don’t think they could have done any more, I thought they played well against a top team, but it’s fine margins.

“I thought the way this group progressed throughout the tournament was fantastic. It’s pointless me going into that [about the referee], I’d rather talk about my players.

“I think in key moments, we are playing in a high-level game, there will be chances created, we were in the right places, we had more shots on goal. It’s fine margins.”

More from the boss here as his team exit at the last-eight stage:

Kane had earlier scored an England equaliser from the spot, crashing the ball into the net of his Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris to equal Wayne Rooney’s record tally of 53 England goals. But at the second time of asking, with the score now 2-1 following Olivier Giroud’s headed goal for France, Kane lashed his effort high over the crossbar and England never recovered.

Southgate revealed Kane was distraught in the dressing room after the game.

“He’s very, very low, but he’s got nothing to reproach himself for,” the manager said. “We are in the position we are as a team because of his leadership, his goals, over a long period of time. Tonight is a result of 100 minutes of football. For us there are no recriminations. We’ve always stuck together as a team and we win and lose together.”

Wikipedia appears to have been edited by England fans upset by decisions made by referee Wilton Sampaio in the first half of the World Cup quarter-final.

The Brazilian referee drew the ire of England supporters after significant decisions in the first half of the game against France, with a possible foul in the build up to the French opener and a possible penalty shout eventually waved away after a lengthy VAR review.

Members of the public can edit the online encyclopaedia and in changes to Mr Sampaio’s Wikipedia page which were later taken down he was described as “a Brazilian cheat”.

Another edit stated that Mr Sampaio had “lost his guide dog”.

More here on the fume towards the ref:

The FA have released a statement after England’s exit at the World Cup. CEO Mark Bullingham said:

“We would like to thank the millions of England fans who supported us so well throughout the tournament, whether here in Qatar or from back home.

“Like all England fans, we feel the pain of losing a quarter final, along with the coaches, players and support team who are hurting this morning. Gareth (Southgate) and Steve (Holland) prepared the team exceptionally well throughout the tournament. The players were committed to winning the trophy and were led very well by Harry Kane. But sport can have fine margins and on the day, against the current World Champions, it was not to be.

“This is a very exciting young English squad and, despite the intense disappointment of last night, they should be very proud of their performances in Qatar. We are incredibly proud of Gareth, the players, the coaches and the support team and appreciate all the hard work they put in.

“Our congratulations go to France and we wish them the very best of luck for the rest of the tournament.”

If there is a silver lining, it is that this hurts. It did not have to. There was a time when it would not have, in the not too distant past. England are out of a major tournament again, like they were 12 years ago, when performances had nowhere near matched the expectations; like they were eight years ago when they finished bottom of their group; like they were six years ago when arguably the most embarrassing defeat in their history cemented a sense of apathy around this team.

But this time, instead, England are out and it hurts, like it hurt last summer and a few summers before that too. And if this World Cup quarter-final defeat to France sparks any fresh criticism of the person who is mostly responsible for that change in energy and sentiment around England, if it perhaps leads Gareth Southgate to wonder whether it is all worth it in the aggregate and he considers calling time on his six years in charge, then the fact that this hurts again will be his greatest legacy.

Ask anyone what they expected from this meeting of the two best teams left at this tournament and you got the same answer: a game fought at the edges, won in the margins, and that if it came down to it, the world champions may just about edge it. That was ultimately the way the result went but it was not the pattern of the game and not how Southgate and his players will remember their performance. But then this was always going to require something different, something they have not managed in the past 56 years.

Mark Critchley on how England’s defining defeat is Southgate’s enduring legacy:

The Three Lions’ first gripe came during the first half in the build-up to the opening World Cup quarter-final goal for Les Bleus.

Bukayo Saka protested for a foul after Dayot Upamecano’s challenge, but play continued, with Aurélien Tchouaméni soon breaking the deadlock.

Sampaio did award two penalties for England, the second of which following a VAR review. The first spot kick was dispatched by Kane before a second was blazed high over the bar, proving crucial as England were eliminated.

But the defeat comes with extensive criticism for Sampaio, with Neville tweeting: “Ref is a joke!”

He continued on ITV after the game: “I thought he had an absolute nightmare, a joke of a referee. He was just a bad referee, rank bad.”

More here as commentators and onlookers alike hammer the Brazilian ref:

Kyle Walker dropped his head, opened his lungs and ran. This was exactly the type of run he was in the team to make, a fast-twitch surge the length of the field to recover his position, and yet he knew this was a race already lost. Kylian Mbappe hadn’t followed him back into deep French territory, and now Mbappe had the ball, and he was dribbling, and Walker had left his station unattended.

It hadn’t started this way. France kicked off and immediately switched the ball to Mbappe advancing down the wing where Walker met him with a crunch. As France settled on the ball in the opening forays, Mbappe lurked on the fringes, flitting in and out with little steps of deception as Walker stood warily a few yards inside, glancing coquettishly over his shoulder, the two of them conducting their own dance away from the rest.

Lawrence Ostlere in Doha on Kylian Mbappe being the world’s greatest decoy:

Southgate’s contract runs until the end of the European Championships in 2024 and the England manager said he will take “time to reflect” on the Qatar tournament before making a decision on his future.

Southgate led England to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and then the final of Euro 2020 last summer but the Three Lions had been set the target of winning the World Cup this month.