France and England unite to honour Manchester and London victims

France and England paid tribute to the victims of the Manchester and London terror attacks in a pre-match ceremony ahead of their international friendly in Saint-Denis.

A suicide bomber targeted people attending an Ariana Grande pop concert at Manchester Arena on May 22, killing 22 and injuring 116, while seven more people died and 48 were injured when three men mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge before attacking members of the public around Borough Market in the English capital on June 3.

When England and France met previously in November 2015 at Wembley, the match came in the aftermath of a series of co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris that left 130 dead and hundreds wounded.

Before that game, fans from both countries joined in as the words to the French national anthem, ‘La Marseillaise’, were displayed on the Wembley Stadium screens and wreathes were laid.

At the Stade de France, this gesture was returned in kind for the English anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’, after the teams emerged to a band playing Oasis hit ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – a song that became an anthem of solidarity in the days following the Manchester tragedy.

Merci, @StadeFrance. pic.twitter.com/hSsGA1cETJ

— England (@England) June 13, 2017

It was rapturously received by a crowd that included French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Theresa May, while ‘God Save The Queen’ was sung second and applauded by all sides of the ground before the two starting XIs mingled together to observe a minute’s silence.