Unlike many tournaments before them, England didn't go out on penalties at this World Cup, but they still managed to pull off the feat of losing through a missed penalty.
In the 84th minute, Harry Kane had the chance to make it 2-2 for his English team and at least save his team into extra time in this semi-final against France.
But the striker shot the penalty over the bar, France won 2-1 (1-0) and will play next Wednesday (8 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the World Cup and on Magenta TV) against the surprise team from Morocco re-entry into a World Cup final.
"It's hard to find the right words," said Liverpool's Jordan Henderson after the game: "It could have gone either way.
We had the mental strength.
We gave everything.
It wasn't enough."
Looking back at Kane's miss, he asked, "How many did he hit for us?
How many penalties?
How many goals?
He's a world-class striker.
I cannot imagine our team without him.”
For the French, on the other hand, the dream of defending the title continues because this team coached by Didier Deschamps is simply a phenomenon.
As in the tournament four years ago, the Èquipe de France always manages to do exactly what is necessary, without too many frills.
Although the accusation that the style of these French is ugly in Qatar is somewhat unfair.
Judging by the footballing brilliance of the individual players, aesthetes can perhaps imagine even more creativity and spectacle, but the games of this team at this World Cup are by no means completely gray and stuffy.
On the one hand, the attacking quartet with Griezmann, Dembélé, Giroud and Mbappé occasionally has very nice moments, with quick combinations, dribbling and goal completions.
And on the other hand, France is not so stable defensively that hardly any opponent does not have chances.
After Aurelién Tchouameni gave the defending champions an early lead with an excellent long-range shot just off the left post, the Englishmen kept finding gaps in their opponents' defence.
Two shots by Harry Kane (22nd, 29th) were particularly dangerous.
At other moments, the last pass was missing or the French defenders resorted to foul play.
Two penalties were awarded for England, and in a third situation, Deschamps' ensemble was lucky that a duel between Dayot Upamecano and Kane did not result in a penalty (26').
England were no worse than the French in this tight game, but less cold-blooded.
"We've played well so far and have a lot of confidence," said coach Gareth Southgate ahead of the game, but these French are extremely tough and resilient.
In any case, the overall level of the game was significantly higher than in the duel between the Netherlands and Argentina the night before, even if there were phases when there was little going on in the penalty areas.
Kylian Mbappé, the last remaining super superstar in the tournament alongside Lionel Messi, was rarely able to put himself in the limelight.
He had his only clear chance towards the end of the first half when he shot well over the goal from 13 meters out (39').
Perhaps the time-consuming preparatory work of the English coaching team was worth it after all.
Steve Holland, one of Southgate's assistants, recently said that the national team has been working on a plan for two years to slow Mbappé.
The main task was taken on by Kyle Walker, the direct opponent who played in the back four on the right.
But that evening met others.
That worked quite well, but the measure was still not the key to victory.
Perhaps the English can blame themselves for not having risked more earlier, but they had a lot of respect for the French counterattack.
Even after Tchouamenis was 1-0 up, they became relatively cautious and passive again after a short offensive phase.
This was also reflected in the atmosphere in the stadium.
The games of the Arab and South American teams at this World Cup always had an impressive stadium intensity, but that never happened in the purely European duels.
The allegedly 15,000 Englishmen who traveled didn't develop a particularly great impact either.
But in the minutes after the break, England supporters were treated to a few scenes that made them scream, sing and cheer.
First, Jude Bellingham got an excellent shot that Lloris was only able to save with great difficulty (47'), before Kane equalized seven minutes later with a penalty.
Tchouameni fouled Bukayo Saka.
That woke up the French a little, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved a shot from Giroud from close range (77'), before France's center forward headed in a brilliant cross from Griezmann to make it 2-1 (78').
Kane could have repaired the damage but missed his penalty opportunity and a free-kick from Marcus Rashford in ten minutes of added time went just over the bar.
"We did a really good job.
In the end we were the lucky ones," said match winner Giroud with relief: "It goes as far as it can go.
I'm very proud of this team.” The French continue to pursue their firm plan of becoming the first nation to defend their title since Brazil in 1962, and they are clear favorites at least in the semifinals against Morocco.
"They're not a real surprise, they really have what it takes," said Deschamps and warned: "Morocco also deserves respect."