France's forward Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammate forward Antoine Griezmann during the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-final football match between England and France at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha, on Dec 10, 2022. (ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)

DOHA – France striker Olivier Giroud was the hero for France in their 2-1 win over England in the Qatar World Cup quarterfinal here on Saturday night.

The big striker scored the winning goal in the 78th minute, powering home a powerful header from Antoine Griezmann's cross from the left, to book the French their second semi-final appearance in four years.

France striker Olivier Giroud also praised France's defense, saying that the performance reminding him of how they qualified for the 2018 final by beating Belgium

"Grizi" sent in a great ball. It's great for the team," celebrated the striker.

"Tonight was a very big match, we knew England's potential, but we were generous with our efforts and gave a very solid display."

"We tried to be hard-hitting on the counter-attack and looked for it all of the time. I'm really proud of this team, I hope we'll go as far as possible," he added.

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Giroud also praised France's defense, saying that the performance reminding him of how they qualified for the 2018 final by beating Belgium.

"We worked very well defensively, it reminds me a bit of Belgium in 2018. But after we conceded the first penalty, we knew we were going to have more chances," he concluded.