Kylian Mbappe and France made it back to the semifinals of the World Cup on Saturday by beating England 2-1. Olivier Giroud scored in the 78th minute at Al Bayt Stadium to keep France on course to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.
England striker Harry Kane had a chance to even the score late in the match, but he sent a penalty attempt over the bar.
It was his second spot kick of the match. He earlier scored to make it 1-1 after Aurelien Tchouameni had given France the lead.
France will next face Morocco in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Moroccans became the first African team to reach the semifinals at the World Cup by beating Portugal 1-0 earlier in the day.
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FIFA also paid tribute at the match to prominent U.S. soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who collapsed and died in the early morning hours Saturday while covering the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands.
A posy of white lilies and a framed photograph of Wahl taken in Qatar was left at Wahl’s media seat that had been assigned to the 49-year-old journalist.
“Tonight we pay tribute to Grant Wahl at his assigned seat in Al Bayt Stadium. He should have been here,” FIFA said in a statement. “Our thoughts remain with his wife Céline, his family, and his friends at this most difficult time.”
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About 20 minutes before the match started, the photograph of Wahl was displayed on big screens in two corners of the stadium. An announcement about his death was made to fans who applauded him. Wahl was reporting at his eighth World Cup.
Wahl’s agent, Tim Scanlan, told CBS News that the journalist “appeared to have suffered some sort of acute distress in the press room” of Lusail Stadium, when Argentina and the Netherlands began playing in extra time. Paramedics were called to the scene, Scanlan said, but were unable to revive him.
A prolific journalist, Wahl wrote for multiple outlets and was a CBS Sports contributor. He was an analyst on CBS Sports HQ throughout the Qatar World Cup, and wrote guest columns focused on the U.S. men’s national team for CBS Sports. He was also an editorial consultant for soccer documentaries on Paramount+.
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