Griezmann

The man to take sensible decisions in dicey situations, Griezmann is the glue that holds France together.

Yet he was still the go-to guy every time France looked to start a move, and the passing was reliably crisp and unerring. When it was scored his gaze did not alter, he walked backwards to the centre circle talking to his defenders and pointing to both eyes, in that universally understood football mime for “concentrate!" Then, the sting in the tale. When Bellingham had a rare moment on the ball in the France box, Griezmann gently eased him out of it and into a backwards pass. Sometimes when France countered he would hang back and let his younger team-mates make the running. But as with the act of goalscoring, it is about being in the right positions to make these things happen. Occasionally his conservatism was to his detriment. His first half against England was a fan-pleasing greatest hits set, complete with the easiest assist he will ever register for Aurelien Tchouameni’s opening goal. [He formed a fruitful triangle with Ousamane Dembele](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2022/12/10/england-france-player-ratings-world-cup-2022-quarter-final/) and full-back Jules Kounde on the right. More frequently his game was about metronomic tempo-setting and sensible decisions in dicey situations. [With England distracted trying to stop Mbappe](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2022/12/10/winning-kylian-mbappe-battle-england-lost-war/), Griezmann was allowed to play the role of conductor in France’s midfield. But Griezmann exerted just as much influence off the ball.

One of the major questions that England faced coming into their FIFA 2022 World Cup quarterfinal with France was how to slow down Kylian Mbappe.

Deschamps' loyalty to Griezmann has been impressive and sometimes bewildering since that Moscow success given the detrimental impact of an ill-advised Barcelona move. It was the mental side of things where we got the win." This evening it was a truly great match, we knew the potential of this young English generation. Towards the end of the match, we got a few chances. However, perhaps most recognizable from that Russia success was the understanding between Giroud and Griezmann which enabled the latter to create that one chance he knew the veteran could take. There was something of Atleti coach Diego Simeone to Griezmann's approach to the game where he gave his England counterparts the sort of physical battle that not many expected from such a diminutive figure.

DOMINIC KING IN QATAR: All the hoopla had been around Kylian Mbappe, for obvious reasons, but Stephan subtly changed the direction of the conversation.

‘We were going for a midfielder but a midfielder decided to go to another club — that can happen,’ Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said in August. England had worked tirelessly but this was the flashpoint you feared might cost them, when skill and vision combines to plunder a goal at a decisive juncture — Giroud’s header clipped Harry Maguire’s shoulder but it was always going in. And not a bad pointer for the weekend, either. ‘Olivier [Giroud] getting the most goals; Hugo [Lloris] going past Lillian Thuram’s number of appearances and then there is Antoine — 72 appearances in a row! ‘This is the World Cup of records for France!’ he beamed. DOMINIC KING: Antoine Griezmann caused England so much damage with his nous, tricks and flicks that got France moving in the right direction...

France's Antoine Griezmann bagged his 27th assist for his country against England in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal, becoming the all-time leader in French ...

The forward has 42 goals for his country and is third in the list of all-time goalscorers for his country, behind Olivier Giroud (52) and Thierry Henry (51). His second assist came in the 78th minute after he picked out Olivier Giroud from the left flank, and the forward head the ball inside the net. Griezmann broke the joint-top record set by Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane (26).

Griezmann had a difficult start to the season at Atletico Madrid and has not scored in Qatar, leaving Mbappe and Olivier Giroud to provide the goals as ...