England bowed out of the World Cup at the quarter final stage, losing out to France in a closely fought affair.

England arguably had the better of the chances, but were ultimately undone by the clinical France and some questionable refereeing decisions.

France took the lead through Aurelien Tchouameni, who hit a strong strike into the bottom corner from outside the box. England's first frustrations stemmed from a incident just seconds before which had allowed Dayot Upamecano to steal the ball from Bukayo Saka to set France away.

Replays showed a clear foul on the Arsenal man but the referee and his VAR team, took no interest.

Unfortunately Saka's complaints would continue throughout the night as he was continuesly fouled with little interest from the referee.

Eventually, Saka draw a foul inside the box that the referee couldn't ignore. Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was given the chance to level the game, and he did. Saka went close again a couple of times for England, Maguire and Bellingham also having chances.

Giroud was the man for France who restored the lead however. A strong header gave Pickford no chance. England would have one more chance and it was Harry Kane who stepped up again from the spot. However, this time he blazed it over the bar and English hearts were broken.

Bukayo Saka's Euros last year ended a similar way, with a game decided by penalties. However, Saka will be walking away with completely different personal feelings than 18 months ago.

With three goals and a penalty won in the 4 games Saka played, the Arsenal man, along with Bellingham, Kane and Maguire, was arguably England's best player. In every game, Saka had sought to run at his man, create dangerous opportunities for his teammates and score goals himself. He did exactly that.

The France game was undoubtedly one of the biggest of Saka's career thus far. All though he came out on the losing side, he proved he can go toe to toe with the best talents in the World, and look better. Saka will return to Arsenal and will be hungry for more.