France squad were baffled by player picked as 'weak link' in England game, it motivated them

France's players were shocked by who the English media picked as a 'weak link' ahead of their World Cup quarter-final clash against England on Saturday evening.

Didier Deschamps' side ran out 2-1 winners at the Al Bayt Stadium thanks to goals in either half from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud.

Harry Kane scored a penalty in between but then blazed a second over the bar with five minutes to go.

England were on top for most of the contest yet failed to convert their chances.

Some of that came down to the performance of France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who made several vital saves.

One in particular, just after the break, saw him tip a Jude Bellingham effort over the bar with his fingertips.

Per RMC Sport, younger members of the 'Les Bleus' squad were motivated for the game after seeing the English press identify their captain as a player to target.

Tottenham Hotspur star Lloris ended up being crucial to France moving one step closer to retaining the World Cup.

Lloris made his France debut in 2008 and is the most-capped player in national team history with 143 appearances to his name.

Alamy)

France will now face Morocco in a huge semi-final on Wednesday evening. The winner will go on to face Argentina or Croatia, who play on Tuesday, in the World Cup final six days from now.

Defeat for England means their 56-year wait for an international trophy goes on. Under Gareth Southgate, they've now been eliminated from three major competitions.

The Three Lions enjoyed a strong World Cup on the whole, but Southgate may still walk away after a taxing 18 months.

England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy in the summer of last year before going on a wretched run in the UEFA Nations League.

Alamy)

"I’ve found large parts of the last 18 months difficult," Southgate told The Guardian. "For everything that I’ve loved about the last few weeks, I still have… how things have been for 18 months. What’s been said and what’s been written. The night at Wolves. There’s lots of things in my head that’s really conflicted at the moment.

"What I want to make sure, if it’s the right thing to stay, is that I’ve definitely got the energy to do that. I don’t want to be four or five months down the line thinking: ‘I’ve made the wrong call.’ It’s too important for everybody to get that wrong."

Topics: England, France, Football World Cup

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_