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In the Group B match eagerly awaited by many, European champions France faced England. In an unbelievably dramatic match, the French secured victory by scoring 2 goals in extra time, thanks to Zinedine Zidane.
France - England 2-1 38' [0-1] 90'+1, 90'+3 [1-1, 2-1]
Both teams started the game cautiously and did not actively attack their opponents' goal. The best chance for France came in the 15th minute, but after a pass from Patrick Vieira, David Trezeguet's header went over the crossbar.
The game continued quite dull as the teams' short passing game didn't allow them to get closer to the goal.
The view changed towards the end of the first half. In the 38th minute, a penalty kick was awarded to the right of the French goal. David Beckham made the pass into the penalty area, and Frank Lampard headed the ball into the goal.
At the end of the first half, Thierry Henry had a chance to score but his shot went over the goal.
At the beginning of the second half, the French took the initiative and tried to press the opponents, but the English successfully thwarted all their attempts to get closer to the goal. Henry attacked the goal several times dangerously, but England's goalkeeper David James repelled his shots.
In the 72nd minute, as the French were attacking, the English took possession and launched a counterattack. The pass reached Wayne Rooney, who pushed the ball forward, outpaced defender Silvestre, and the latter brought down the young English forward in the penalty area.
Team captain David Beckham took the penalty, but his shot was deflected by goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
Two minutes later, a bizarre incident occurred - a shot from Vassell, who had just come onto the field as a substitute, bounced off the ground and hit Barthez in the nose, causing confusion for both Thuram and the injured goalkeeper.
Despite the efforts of the French team players, they failed to create dangerous moments, and the fans of the England team were already chanting victory songs.
But everything turned upside down during the additional three minutes added by the referees. Heskey brought down Makelele near the penalty area and Zidane precisely shot into the corner of the goal, equalizing the score.
Shortly after, shocked England made a mistake again - Gerard, trying to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper, lost it. Henry jumped alone against the goalkeeper, who brought down the French forward. The referee, without hesitation, showed a yellow card and awarded a penalty kick from 11 meters to the English goal.
Zinedine, once again, scored the winning goal from the penalty spot.
