France advances to semifinals at World Cup, tops England 2-1

AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) — 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.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports