ENGLAND suffered World Cup penalty heartbreak yet again as Harry Kane’s spot-kick miss saw the Three Lions defeated 2-1 by France in a thrilling quarter-final in Qatar.
Fans had bemoaned a number of refereeing decisions during the game, but the Brazilian official awarded two penalty kicks to Gareth Southgate’s side in the second half.
England supporters had a brief moment of jubilation as Kane’s first spot-kick beat his club teammate Hugo Lloris, with beers and Santa hats thrown in the air at fan parks around the nation.
After a VAR intervention, the Three Lions were awarded a second penalty – but the England captain blazed it high over the bar.
Boss Southgate refused to condemn Kane for his penalty miss. He said: “For me, we win and lose as a team.
"We have let a couple of goals in and missed a few chances.
“He has been incredible for us and is so reliable for us in those situations. We wouldn’t be here but for the number of goals he has scored for us.
“We were here to win the tournament and we had belief we could.
“I think we showed in our performance against the reigning champions we have a team good enough to have done that.”
England fans were left devastated as their side crashed out of the World Cup against champions France
Southgate, who is contracted until 2024, was non-committal on his own future.
He said: “I think after every tournament we have sat and reviewed and reflected. It needs a bit of time to make sure everybody makes the right decisions.”
Asked if he felt England deserved more, Southgate told ITV: “I think the performance did but in the end goals are decisive.
“I don’t think they could have given any more. They have played really well against a top team.” TV pundit Gary Neville said he felt Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio was poor.
“The referee had an absolute nightmare,” Neville said on ITV. “He was a joke of a referee.
“I’m not saying England’s defeat is all down to that and people might say that is excuses, but he was just a bad referee. Rank bad.”
The Prince of Wales sent a personal message to the England team, saying he was “gutted” for Southgate and the players, adding: “We are all so proud of you.”
After the game, William tweeted: “Gareth, Harry and the whole England squad and staff, gutted for all of you.
“You put so much into this tournament and we are all so proud of you. Heads held high and on to the next one!”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said England deserved to win the game and the result was “absolutely gutting”.
Gareth Southgate consoles skipper Harry Kane after England's heartbreaking World Cup loss
Peter Byrne
Fans across the country held their heads in their hands and watched on in silence as France set up a semi-final tie with Morocco on Wednesday.
The referee, Wilton Sampaio, was subjected to a barrage of negative comments from English supporters, following two contentious decisions in the first half.
The official also received criticism from Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, who took to Twitter to say: “One of these days, just once, we might get a decision in our favour.”
Mr Sampaio’s Wikipedia page was also edited, with the referee listed as having “lost his guide dog” and a “Brazilian cheat”.
At Propyard in Bristol, around 500 fans watched the game on large TV screens in a temporary marquee.
England fans up and down the country drowned their sorrows after the cruel loss
Jacob King
Among them was John Andrews, 39, who said: “England were the better team in the second half and I couldn’t believe Harry missed the second penalty.
“We didn’t deserve to lose and should have had a penalty in the first half. I couldn’t believe some of the decisions the ref gave. I’m gutted.”
Gemma Wilson, 32, from Bristol, said: “I really thought Rashford’s free-kick was in.
“We deserved to get more out of the game. France were lucky. I’m so proud of the team.”
