Kylian Mbappe let out a roar of approval after Harry Kane spurned the chance to save England’s World Cup hopes from the spot.
The Three Lions crashed out at the quarter-final stage losing 2-1 to France in a game filled with controversy. Following Aurelien Tchouameni’s early strike, England responded bravely and were aggrieved to not be awarded a spot kick after Dayot Upamecano upended the Tottenham striker in the box.
Referee Wilton Sampaio dismissed those shouts as the reigning world champions went into the break with the slender lead. Less than ten minutes into the second half, England were given the opportunity to level when Buakyo Saka was clearly fouled in the box.
Kane ruthlessly fired past his Spurs team-mate Hugo Lloris to give England parity, setting up a grandstand second half at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Olivier Giroud capitalised on a momentary lapse of defensive concentration to put the French back in front with 12 minutes to go, to test England’s resolve once more. But they almost delivered again when Theo Hernandez crudely shoved Mason Mount down in the box.
Sampaio initially didn’t give the penalty, only to overrule once he had checked the pitchside monitor. However, with the chance to not only take the match to extra time, but to break Wayne Rooney ’s goalscoring record - Kane fluffed his lines, firing his effort miles over the bar.
The French players engulfed Lloris as England fans stood in disbelief and footage of Mbappe’s reaction has now emerged. The Paris Saint-Germain superstar, who put in an unusually quiet performance, was seen punching his fists and screaming in delight with a beaming smile across his face.
England would have one final chance in the final seconds of eight minutes of stoppage time, but Marcus Rashford ’s free kick rippled the outside of the net, rather than find the back of it.
Kane was spotted leaving the field in tears, while a crestfallen Jude Bellingham - one of the standout players of the tournament - was consoled by his manager.
Speaking after the game a heartbroken Jordan Henderson backed his skipper, telling ITV : “We know how many pens he’s scored for us, he scored the first. How many goals he’s contributed to get us here. He’ll be stronger for it, he’s a world class striker, our captain.”
On the miss, Ian Wright said after the full-time whistle: "You know you’ve just gone one side, you’ve got to be sure of what you’re doing. We saw with that penalty that Harry Kane has tried a little bit hard, caught it too much.
"You try to make sure you get it right. I’m still 100 per cent behind him to take every penalty because once we’ve got that penalty I thought we’re back in it"
The defeat ends England’s quest to reach the final four of a tournament for the third time on the spin but leave Qatar with their heads held high. It does put Gareth Southgate’s future as manager into focus, having refused to commit beyond the end of this tournament.
Southgate’s current contract extends to the end of Euro 2024 in 18 months’ time, but pre-World Cup he admitted that a decision over his position would come once their campaign concluded.
