France and England unite at Wembley after Paris attacks

La Marseillaise may never have been sung as badly – or as poignantly – as football fans join together in show of solidarity

Wembley Paris attacks
(Image credit: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)

The footballers of England and France stood shoulder to shoulder at Wembley four days after the Paris terror attacks as they lined up for a match that had become "less a sporting event than a diplomatic one".

As armed police patrolled the stadium and its environs, and news broke of postponements elsewhere in Europe, the pre-match rituals, featuring wreaths laid by both the teams' captains and Prince William, were a "a powerful and poignant expression of Anglo-French solidarity", says Oliver Kay of The Times. It "felt like a significant and highly symbolic response to last Friday's devastation".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up