Jordan Henderson brutally snubbed Kylian Mbappe in tunnel exchange

England's Jude Bellingham chats to fan

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Jordan Henderson totally ignored Kylian Mbappe’s attempts to say hello to him in the tunnel before England’s defeat at the hands of France in the World Cup quarter-finals. Gareth Southgate’s men were sent home despite putting up a spirited fight against the defending champions, who managed to set up a semi-final meeting with Morocco thanks to Olivier Giroud’s late headed goal.

Henderson has been hailed by Liverpool fans on social media for growing closer to Jude Bellingham over the course of the World Cup, with the 19-year-old having been linked with a big-money move to Anfield at the end of the season. However, Reds supporters will have been left bemused by Henderson’s actions in the tunnel prior to kick-off against France when he appeared to snub a pre-match handshake with Mbappe, who has also been mentioned in connection with Liverpool over the last few years.

The French striker tried to get Henderson’s attention by gesturing at him but was left hanging by the England midfielder, who completely blanked Mbappe by refusing to even look in his direction. Mbappe then retracted his hand and let out a wry smile before having the last laugh as France managed to claim the spoils over England to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

The incident was captured on video and posted to Twitter, although it is unclear whether Mbappe was gesturing to another player in front of the Liverpool man or to a young mascot out of the picture. It seemed as though it was a bizarre show of disrespect by Henderson, who spoke of his despair after the final whistle on yet another painful night for England at the World Cup.

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“Straight after the game it’s difficult to find the right words,” he told ITV Sport. “I thought we give everything in the game, disappointed to go 1-0 down but the character, mentality to keep going and find the equaliser. I can’t say any more really. We give it everything and unfortunately it wasn’t our night.

“We felt really good, and the performances were really good. The focus and hunger was good every single day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our night. You’ve got to give credit to France as they’re a good team, but I still felt it was there for us to win tonight.”

England found themselves a goal down after just 17 minutes when Aurelien Tchouameni fired past Jordan Pickford from long range before Harry Kane equalised from the penalty spot after the interval. France managed to restore their narrow advantage through Olivier Giroud, who headed home from inside the area after meeting Antoine Griezmann’s pinpoint delivery before England were quickly awarded another spot-kick due to a foul on Phil Foden.

Kane failed to repeat his earlier heroics, though, with the Tottenham forward blazing his effort high over the crossbar to the delight of the French players standing on the edge of the box. Marcus Rashford also went close for England with a well-hit free-kick but France managed to hold on despite being under the cosh for the majority of the second half to book their place in the last four of the World Cup.

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