Prince William has sent England's Three Lions a personal message saying he was "gutted" to see the team exit the 2022 World Cup. Last night (December 10), Gareth Southgate's side lost 2-1 to France at the Al Bayt Stadium.
England's heartbreak was made worse by the fact captain Harry Kane missed a penalty in the 84th minute which would have tied the game. Aurelien Tchouameni put the French ahead in the 17th minute with a lovely strike after finding space outside the box.
However, England managed to get on top of the defending champions and equalised through a penalty slotted home by Kane, who equalled Wayne Rooney's scoring record of 53 goals for the Three Lions. But in the 78th minute, Olivier Giroud headed home a cross to put France back ahead.
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Hopes reignited for England again when Mason Mount was fouled in the box, but Kane smashed his penalty kick over the bar. From there, France managed to see out the rest of the game to set up a semi-final tie with Morocco, the first African team to reach that stage of the World Cup.
As expected, social media became awash with messages both consoling and criticising the performance from England. This included one from the Prince and Princess of Wales' Twitter account from Prince William, who expressed his pride at how well the Three Lions had performed.
The tweet from the royal, who is president of the Football Association, said: "Gareth, Harry and the whole England squad and staff, gutted for all of you. You put so much into this tournament and we are all so proud of you.
"Heads held high and on to the next one! W."
Following last night's defeat, England players have expressed how devastated they are to have been knocked out. This includes Kane himself, who posted on Instagram: "Absolutely gutted.
"We’ve given it everything and it’s come down to a small detail which I take responsibility for. There’s no hiding from it, it hurts and it’ll take some time to get over it but that’s part of sport.
"Now it’s about using the experience to be mentally and physically stronger for the next challenge. Thanks for all the support throughout the tournament - it means a lot."
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