France vs Belgium 2018 World Cup final score and analysis

ST. PETERSBURG – This brilliant, miserable, wonderful, abominable, strong and fragile World Cup character, France, went to perch on a new level Tuesday night at the St Petersburg Stadium. His tense 1-0 win over Belgium in the first semi-final of the 2018 World Cup means that in the last 20 years, it's the only country to have acceded to three World Cup finals. France has tended to lean toward the extremes of the pound sterling or horrible. He penetrates up to the title and upsets Brazil as in 1998; or score zero goals in a missed misfire in 2002; or exceeds Spain, Brazil and Portugal in the final in 2006; or present to the world an unusually depressing stew of dissension in 2010; or made a refreshing account of himself in the quarter-finals in 2014. This time he played his first six games here as a bastion of skill, able to master everything that a match demands, exhilarating on the subject. attack against Argentina, crushing the defense against Belgium. 19659003] "We gave ourselves this immense privilege to reach the final of the World Cup," said Didier Deschamps, a midfielder of the French team who made the Champs-Elysees the Earth from Heaven on July 12, 1998, and now the manager of the France team who made the Champs-Elysees the ideal place to be on Earth Tuesday night. He said, "We do not do everything right, but of course there is progress, I am very proud of them, I am very proud of their mentality too."

Beyond that, take this: France will arrive in Moscow for the Sunday final as a favorite against England or Croatia. It's 20 years after he's arrived at the final as a non-favorite against Brazil. Win, and he can be counted pretty much among the behemoths of the World Cup, if he can not already.

[Mighty England, a World Cup Cinderella? The shoe fits for several of its players.]

Far from reversing a 2-1 deficit to round 16 in Argentina in a manner that demanded "solidity" Deschamps said, but also needed outrageous talent, France won a half -final who lit inches – or, sorry, centimeters. As he evolved, he turned, and at one point, a player achieved an exploit.

This player could be among French strikers Olivier Giroud or Antoine Griezmann or the breathtaking Kylian Mbappe, or Belgian threats such as Eden Hazard or Romelu Lukaku or Kevin De Bruyne. It turned out that Samuel Umtiti, the defender of Barcelona, ​​formerly Lyon, crashed into a photo in the 51st minute

the Griezmann corner, built by Blaise Matuidi who created Giroud in the previous moments.

The Belgian Marouane Fellaini, ranked 6 feet 3 inches, is back

The Umtiti of France, ranked 5-10, has materialized

. At the edge of the goal, he took a scoreless bounce and gave him a French look.

Roberto Martinez, Belgium manager: "Not scoring the first goal was going to be very difficult because of the way France were set up." ] Deschamps, on the French defense: "I do not know if it's the best, but it was excellent tonight."

Umtiti, 24 years old: "When one is not particularly tall, what is important is the determination," and, "He is a very successful player, Marouane Fellaini, but I managed to get a head ahead of it. "

---

Want some clever analysis, opinions, visualization guides and more from the World Cup? Sign up for our newsletter for one month . Every match day until the final of July 15th.

---

France did not exactly need a lockdown after that – Belgium had chances, like a Fellaini's head four minutes later that went around just right of the post – work, determination and expertise. He sealed that thanks to his five victories and his goal-scoring draw, no-one with Denmark at the end of the group, he played as an outfit that knows what to do.

"We spent 49 days together" playing, said Deschamps. "Who would have thought we would have reached the final of the World Cup?" Answer: Anyone who observes them.

They did not create the same rage as other enemies. A stadium for a France-Belgium match, even with 64,286 spectators, has become a lukewarm question. A slice of French fans have proven tireless here at one end, while a group of Belgian fans have been tireless over there at the other end. Neutrality reigned otherwise. There was even a feeling that, in general, French and Belgian fans might have the skewed sense of football as part of life rather than the opposite. From the point of view of noise, articulation lacked Brazilians, or Colombians, or Peruvians, or Mexicans.

So, here in Euro 2018 de facto, the neighbors huddled each other. Each had frills that showed why she could surpass Argentina and Uruguay, as France did, or bounce back 2-0 in Japan and then overtake Brazil, like Belgium. did it. They exchanged their sparkling talents, a lot of pretty things that came and went, even if it did not represent a lot of gasping threat.

Perhaps the luck closest to Belgium was 18 minutes, when Hazard sent a nice curling thing. To the left of the penalty area, French defender Raphael Varane seemed to have just enough hair to propel him just over the goal. This may have demonstrated the importance of a quality hair product.

Otherwise, Belgium tried, but France has mastered it. Belgium has found a "huge" disappointment, said Martinez about his highbrow generation, while France has still hoped to soften its disappointment with its final defeat against Portugal in Paris in 2016. He finished the biggest Sunday on Earth for the third time in 20 years.

"They had better control than us," Deschamps said of Belgium, but France surpassed it. First goal of a defender, taking into account the clever head of Varane in the quarterfinals against Uruguay

It seems that he could win anyway, which in made another French team among all known French teams.

– Chuck Culpepper

***

Game Updates

Yellow card at Vertonghen of Belgium

In the 94th minute

Yellow card at Mbappe of France

the 93rd minute. [19659030] Substitution from Belgium: Batshuyai for Chadli

In the 92nd minute

Officials add six minutes of time out

[Here’s the full bracket and schedule]

Yellow card to the Kante of France

In the 87th minute [19659031] Substitution of France: Tolisso for Matuidi

In the 86th minute.

Substitution of France: Nzonzi fo Girond

In the 85th minute

Lloris hits the ball with equal chances

Axel Witsel fired a shot just outside the penalty area French in the 80th minute. goal. But Hugo Lloris was there to save the French advance

Substitution of Belgium: Carrasco for Fellaini

In the 80th minute

Yellow card for Alderweireld of Belgium

In the 71st minute.

Fellaini close to equalization

The entry of Dries Mertens for Belgium is already resuscitating the attack of the Red Devils. Mertens from the right wing launches a cross after the cross in the penalty area, and in the 65th minute, Marouane Fellaini took the lead at one for a promising effort that ran barely wide. France still leads, 1-0

Yellow card for Belgian Hazard

In the 63rd minute

Substitution to Belgium: Mertens for Dembele

In the 60th minute

Goal France!

Samuel Umtiti strikes in the 51st minute to give Les Bleues a 1-0 advantage. Umtiti, the center back, ran up to the post on the corner of Antoine Griezmann and slotted his head toward the back post.

Halftime: France 0, Belgium 0

After 45 minutes of free-running, hard-loading football, France and Belgium have produced a lot of chances, but on such a high stage, this could be ask too much too soon for someone to convert them. The Blue and Red Devils spent the first half of their World Cup semi-final match in a scoreless game.

The stars of both teams were shot on goal. The two guards made remarkable backups to preserve the white board. And halfway through regulation, the long-time strikers are back where they started

Belgian striker Eden Hazard continued his brilliant attempt in 16 ^th minute that has skidded and a few moments later above the crossbar. Toby Alderweireld had a chance on a corner in the minute but the Frenchman Hugo Lloris was up to the task, beating the ball with both hands

. Striker Kylian Mbappe, whose speed on the pitch is unmatched. Benjamin Pavard was head-to-head with Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois five minutes before half-time, but the Devils kickoff kept the game scoreless.

***

Updates of the first half

Kick-save by Courtois

Benjamin Pavard was in France one-on-one with Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 40th minute . Pavard shot his shot over the goal and Courtois's body, but the goalkeeper put his right foot up and put him out of reach for a brilliant kick.

Hugo Lloris beats French defense

on early chances. In the 21st minute, at the exit of a Belgian corner, Toby Alderweireld fired a shot that seemed destined for the right side of Lloris' net. But the goalkeeper was lying down and used two hands to hit the ball and keep the game aimless.

Belgium gets the first shot of the night

And the boy, was it a good luck. After a change in the depths of French territory, Kevin De Bruyne gave Eden Hazard a pass in the penalty area, who turned and shot quickly, thinking the defenders were close by. French goalkeeper Emmanuel Macron and King Philippe Philippe were present

French President Emmanuel Macron, next to King Philippe of Belgium the semi-final between the two nations. (Martin Meissner / AP)