France and Belgium will clash in the first semi-final which will be played in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, July 10, 2018. We are into the final stages of the 2018 World Cup.
Final scores
France beat Belgium 1-0 to enter final :
- Samuel Umtiti's header in the 51st minute helped France beat.
- France will play England or Croatia in the final at Moscow
It is going to be an all European affair with France, Belgium, Croatia and England qualifying for the semis. No one could have predicted an all-European lineup for the semi-finals. However it is not for the first time this has happened and as recently as 2006, when Germany, Italy, France, and Portugal fought it out, and ultimately Italy became a champion.
Belgium has performed as per their reputation and is the hot favorites. France also overcame a much more experienced Argentina and Uruguay to enter the semi-finals. Croatia was slow and sluggish in the beginning but went into top gear to reach the final four. France meets its neighbor in the semis and tries to enter its third final in 20 years.
France 1-0 Belgium - highlights
Belgium 'golden generation'
Belgium became the giant killer when it defeated favorite Brazil and are hoping to reach their first final. Belgium was more of an underdog, but it smashed 14 goals in five matches and had entered the last four for the second time in history. Belgium caused the biggest upset in World Cup when it beat Brazil 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
France entered the semifinals after defeating Uruguay with a convincing 2-0 triumph.
France: Defense Impenetrable, lackluster attack
The French defense can be described as rock solid, and the two center backs are in top gear with N'Golo Kante juggling the football with his legs as a magician. Looking at the scorecard, France has conceded 42 shots which is the least among all the semifinalists.
It means the team believed in keeping things impeccably tight in the rear.
Watch party in Paris erupts in revelry as France advances to 2018 World Cup final, defeating Belgium 1-0. https://t.co/qCp1oCCdeS pic.twitter.com/7KiNYoONgn
— ABC News (@ABC) July 10, 2018
Tackles and interception add up to 137 which are also the highest among the four sides.
However, it fails when it comes to attacking and with a total of 55 which is the lowest of all teams reveals that the team has not been able to capitalize on the presence of world-class forwards at their disposal.
