A determined effort but an excruciating end for Tottenham captain at Cup

Tottenham and France captain Hugo Lloris and his teammates demonstrated tremendous resolve to push Argentina to the limits but fell short in excruciating fashion in the World Cup Final.

It was a World Cup final where we will remember France awakening from a 70-minute slumber, making the last hour of football something to behold. Between the kickoff and the sudden push for glory from Killian Mbappe and France, their captain – and Tottenham’s – Hugo Lloris worked to keep France in the game. In the end, Lloris and France came up short against Leo Messi’s La Albiceleste, but not from a lack of trying.

Lloris was busy as France struggled to find a foothold in the game

From the very beginning of the match, France struggled as players mishandled simple balls and showed a real lack of touch and composure. Hugo Lloris did have any opportunities for similar mistakes as he was under tremendous pressure from the start and throughout the match.

The pressure included a run-in with Tottenham teammate Cristian Romero in the box, where Lloris took a shot in the stomach and needed some medical attention. Hugo played but will indeed feel some soreness from the blow in the morning.

While both teams finished the match with 50% of their shots on frame, Argentina had twice as many shots as France, leaving Lloris with ten shots on target to defend, saving seven of them.

The saves came in all shapes and sizes for Lloris, including a sliding effort in the box, beating Alexis Mac Allister to the ball. Those seven saves also included a miraculous point-blank deflection in the box, which, unfortunately for Lloris, fell to Messi, uncovered in the goalmouth to score Argentina’s third goal in added extra time.

France did fight back and level the game for a second time on Mbappe’s second penalty and third goal of the match, sending the game into penalty kicks.

Anyone watching most likely would have rather had another 30 minutes of what was transpiring on the field, but the players were near exhaustion, and penalties are what we got. Unfortunately for Lloris, he trusted his homework and guessed more than his instincts and reactions, missing two balls he will be thinking about for a long time from Paulo Dybala and Leandro Paredes. Dybala went down the middle after Lloris guessed to his left, and then he seemingly jumped over Paredes ball that just crept under him on his right.

After a tranquil group stage for Lloris, it was a busy knockout round where the France and Tottenham captain showed he still has tremendous reflexes and can make a big save or two or seven. Unfortunately for Lloris and France, he needed to make one or two more to make history.