The Three Lions were the better side across the 90 minutes but still fell to a 2-1 loss in part due to two moments of brilliance from France.
England were also not helped by the shocking display of the referee on the day.
Bukayo Saka was fouled in the build-up to France’s opening goal but nothing was given.
Harry Kane then should have had a penalty early on, but nothing was given. France then spent the rest of the tie chopping down Bukayo Saka, who saw countless clear fouls not given in his favour.
Following the game, Harry Maguire hit out at the ref:
“The big decisions went against us, a lot of decisions went against us, should I say,” he said after the match. “The referee’s decision making throughout the game was really poor.
“They made five or six early fouls,” Maguire continued.
“Harry [Kane] was outside the box but it’s a clear foul, he doesn’t give the penalty in the second half. Bukayo is a clear foul leading up to their first goal. It’s just big moments and decisions and you expect them to get some right but unfortunately tonight we didn’t get any.”
And whilst some may argue England are only criticising the referee because they lost, Lionel Messi also slammed officials after Argentina’s win over the Netherlands on Friday:
“I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you,” he vented after the match despite coming out on top. “But people saw what happened. I think FIFA must take care of this, it cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance.
“The referee cannot fail to be up to the task. A lot of joy and relief. It wasn’t to go to penalty kicks. We suffered too much for how it all happened. But the it’s the quarter finals of the World Cup.”
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