'Lucky’: French media salute  Les Bleus' hearts and guts as they celebrate World Cup win over England

HEADING HOME: England's Jude Bellingham outside the Souq Al-Wakra hotel in Qatar on SUnday.

The French media lauded their World Cup heroes after they beat England 2-1 in Saturday’s quarter-final but admitted, almost to a journalist, that Les Bleus had ridden their luck as they booked their place in the last four.

Sunday’s L’Equipe splashed with the comprehensible but not-quite translatable wordplay, “Crunchissime”, after France gave away two penalties and – as Harry Maguire and many English fans believed – were fortunate to get away with numerous other challenges.

But the front page ran on: “What happiness! At the end of a tense match right to the end, Les Bleus knocked out the English. In the semi-finals on Wednesday they will face Morocco, the sensations of this World Cup.” 

Inside, the sports daily’s report ran under the English-worded headline “Very good tripes”, a typically French gastronomic reference to coach Deschamps’ post-match comment that, “c’est avec le cœur et les tripes que nous avons tenu” - it was with our hearts and guts that we held on.

Journalist Vincent Duluc focused on Les Bleus’ self-belief and will: "Since the merit of a team does not only consist in playing well, since collective sport rewards other virtues, it is fair to celebrate the presence of the French team in the World Cup semi-finals as an immense achievement, considering all that has befallen them, all that they have had to find [in themselves], and the strength they have been able to create, day after day.” 

Le Monde said England were the "better side for long stretches" but insisted France were now strong favourites to win back-to-back titles after their 2018 success in Russia.

The paper’s Alexandre Pedro wrote: “Some may speak of a small miracle, the luck of the champion … The winners on the evening prefer to see other virtues, that of a team that bends but never breaks.” 

And French ESPN journalist Julien Laurens admitted, “the winning team is not always the best”, though he credited France for finding a way to win through to their third semi-final in four major tournaments. It was a sentiment that echoed another Deschamps quote, who said after the match, “You need a bit of luck sometimes.” 

L'Equipe celebrates France's fortune against England

Unsurprisingly, France’s victory made the front page of Sunday’s national and regional papers. 

The Journal du Dimanche looked forward to this week’s last-four match-up - a page one pull to its coverage stating: “France-Morocco semi-final: This World Cup is magic.” 

Le Parisien satisfied itself with the English-language “Yes!” at the end of a quarter-final match that had 17.7million viewers of free-to-air channel TF1 hooked, the channel’s record audience for the year - at least until Wednesday, after Morocco’s win over Portugal attracted 7.4million viewers.

Inside, it had a message of support from notable squad absentee, Ballon D’Or winner Karim Benzema, who withdrew from the squad after suffering an injury in a training session in Qatar before the competition kicked off.

"Come on guys, 2 more games, we're almost there ... behind you ... Vamonos," wrote the Ballon d'Or 2022 winner.

La Croix insisted that Didier Deschamps’ team “can count themselves lucky” after progressing, while Le Monde wrote that France “struggled” their way past the Three Lions.

Toulouse-based La Dépêche du Midi screamed, “Grandiose!”, over a picture of Olivier Giroud’s goal-scoring header, while reserving most of its praise for goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris, who they described as ‘decisive’.

Ouest France, meanwhile, referenced the tension from first whistle to last with the headline "Qualified for the semi-finals after a stifling match".

"The French team suffered, but it did not let go against England”, it went on, adding that "nothing was easy for Didier Deschamps' team" at the Al-Bayt Stadium.

Honesty, too, from La Voix du Nord, whose front page read: “At the end of the stress, the deliverance” over a photograph of Lloris and defender Joules Kounde’s wild celebrations after Harry Kane had fired his 84th-minute penalty over the crossbar.

Following the match, France forward Kylian Mbappe took to Instagram to write, “A step closer to an absolute dream,” having played a key role in his nation’s 2018 triumph and having impressed in Qatar so far.

“The adventure continues,” wrote Giroud. “So proud of this group”.

As England, Portugal and the Netherlands head home, the aftershock from Brazil’s penalty shootout defeat to Croatia rumbles on. 

O Globo had the word “frustration” splashed across its front page, lamenting “Tite’s wrong decisions, the lack of accuracy in attack and Neymar not taking his penalty right away” as the main factors in the favourites’ unexpected exit. CNN Brazil noted that “with the possibility of a sixth championship being postponed to the World Cup in 2026, Brazil will equal an important, but uncomfortable, mark of 24 years without being crowned world champion.” 

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president-elect, struck a more magnanimous tone, tweeting: “Brazil made an effort, Neymar scored a beautiful goal and the team deserved more. My compliments to the players and coaching staff. Let’s go ahead because in life we can never give up.”