Both sides were unchanged from the teams which won in the last 16, meaning Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher and Raheem Sterling were all among the substitutes for England, the latter having rejoined the squad yesterday after travelling home for family reasons.

Mount and Sterling were both introduced with 10 minutes remaining, shortly after France had taken the lead for the second time in the game through former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud's header, following a fine opening goal from range by Aurelien Tchouameni and a penalty equaliser by Harry Kane.

Just moments after coming on, Mount was shoved to the floor in the box by Theo Hernandez when trying to latch on to a long ball, giving Kane a second chance to score from the spot after a VAR review, but this time the Tottenham striker fired over the bar, allowing France to hold on for the right to face Hakim Ziyech's Morocco in the semi-finals.

It had been a lively start to the game with both teams looking to get forward and several promising moves which came to nothing, but there was a warning 10 minutes in when Giroud got his head to a dipping Ousmane Dembele cross, although it was straight at goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

However, when the first goal came six minutes later, it was out of nothing. There was controversy as England felt there was a foul on Bukayo Saka in the build up, but the referee waved play on. Even then, it seemed the danger had passed when Tchouameni received the ball 25 yards out, but the midfielder unleashed a powerful low shot which flew into the bottom corner of the net.

England tried to hit back and Hugo Lloris rushed off his line to deny Kane from close range before there was more frustration for the Three Lions, when Kane went down in a tangle with Dayot Upamecano as he ran into the box, but after a lengthy pause VAR decided not to intervene.

The Tottenham striker then had a deflected effort saved well by his club team-mate Lloris, before France managed to emerge from a couple of goalmouth scrambles unscathed, but there was little in the way of action for the remainder of the first half, meaning France went in at the break the happier of the two teams.

England came out for the second half on the front foot, knowing they needed a goal, and created a couple of decent chances. With six minutes of the second half played, they were given the penalty they felt they deserved in the first, when Saka was brought down by Tchouameni. Captain Kane stepped up and smashed the ball past Lloris and into the back of the net to level the scores and make this the country’s highest-scoring World Cup, by getting their 13th goal in Qatar.

Maguire was close to giving England the lead when he was the first to meet a Jordan Henderson free-kick, but his header clipped the foot of the post as it bounced wide for a goal-kick.

Pickford had to produce a good save to keep out a Giroud volley and moments later the ex-Chelsea striker did have the ball in the back of the net, meeting Antoine Griezmann’s cross at the near post to head in via a deflection off Maguire.

With 10 minutes remaining England manager Gareth Southgate made the match’s first substitutions and it was two Blues who were given a chance to make their mark on the game, Mount and Sterling both coming on as the Three Lions attempted to find a second equaliser.

Mount had an instant impact, as he was barged in the back by Hernandez when trying to get on the end of a long ball in the box. VAR instructed the referee to have a second look on the pitchside monitor and he then had no hesitation in giving England a second penalty of the game. Kane took it again, but this time he smashed his shot over the crossbar, giving France a let-off.

There were five minutes left for England to find the goal they needed to stay in the World Cup, with Mount trying his luck from range but firing high and wide. There was one last chance with a Marcus Rashford free-kick, which rippled the top of the net on it’s way over, but England couldn’t find a way past the French defence and their tournament came to an end in the quarter-finals.