Romain Rouillard 7:44 p.m., December 09, 2022
Seven years ago, on November 17, 2015, England hosted the France team for a friendly match at Wembley.
A poster which was to have test value for the Blues a few months before Euro 2016. But the context of the attacks of November 13, which occurred four days earlier, had relegated the athlete to the background.
That evening, England and France were one.
On November 17, 2015, Wembley Stadium in London was the scene of a vibrant tribute paid by the British public to a France devastated by an unnamed tragedy.
Four days earlier, on Friday November 13, 2015, three suicide bombers activated their explosive belts near the Stade de France, where Les Bleus hosted Germany for a friendly match.
Result: one dead and 63 injured.
The first of a series of six attacks perpetrated in the name of the Islamic State and which will plunge several brasseries in the 10th and 11th arrondissements of Paris into horror, as well as the famous Bataclan, which for one evening has become a real scene of war.
A total of 131 people will lose their lives within a few hours.
A heavy toll to which must be added at least 350 injured.
A Wembley Stadium in the colors of France
It is therefore in this context of infinite heaviness that the France team must travel four days later to London to face the England team.
If football then occupies only a marginal place in people's minds, it will allow England to show their affection for their neighbour.
24 hours before the quarter-final of the World Cup between the Three-Lions and the Blues, a look back at this memorable evening when sporting rivalries gave way to union.
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- An England-France full of emotion
Because when it comes to sport, the French and the English usually engage in a fierce battle.
Especially in rugby where this confrontation - the famous "Cruch" - is one of the classics of the world of ovality.
But that night, all of that didn't matter.
A few hours before kick-off, the majestic Wembley Stadium dons the colors of the tricolor flag, displays the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", and the famous arch which overlooks it is also adorned with blue, white and of red.
Wembley prior to tonight's game between @england and @equipedefrancepic.twitter.com/5UqgmhhGD5
— Wembley Stadium (@wembleystadium) November 17, 2015
And on the ground too, the tribute will be up to the drama that traumatized France.
As kick-off approaches, the two coaches - Didier Deschamps for the Blues and Roy Hodgson for the Three-Lions - come out of the stadium tunnel, accompanied by Prince William, to lay wreaths on the lawn.
La Marseillaise taken over by the British public
The protocol order is then reversed and the
God save the Queen
is played first before a vibrant Marseillaise is sung by the 90,000 spectators present in the bays of Wembley.
The words of the tricolor anthem are projected on giant screens and French flags are waved at the four corners of the enclosure.
A particularly moving sequence, especially for Lassana Diarra, the midfielder of the Blues, personally bereaved four days earlier.
His cousin was one of the 131 victims of this sordid evening.
On the pitch, England won 2-0 thanks to a brace from Dele Alli.
A very anecdotal result given the context.
On November 17, 2015, it was the Franco-British union that prevailed.
Seven years later, the two selections find themselves in the queen competition and seek a place in the last four in this World Cup 2022. This Saturday, at 8 p.m., at the Al-Bayt stadium in Al-Khor, emotion does not will no longer have its place on the meadow and it will indeed be a question of sport.