France 1-0 Belgium: Les Bleus Marching On

Belgium overcomes Brazil in the quarter-finals with a comfortable 2-1 win over Brazil while France reached the semi-finals by comfortably beating Uruguay.

Both teams have quality players but Belgium lost their right back Thomas Meunier to suspension for receiving yellow cards in consecutive games.

This forced Belgium manager Roberto Martinez to change the tactics used against Brazil with Romelu Lukaku playing up front instead of the wing, which was efficient against Brazil, and Kevin De Bruyne playing on the wing instead of his preferred middle.

France got their defensive midfielder Blaise Matuidi back from suspension so the Blues reverted back to the same team format that was used throughout the tournament.

The game began as expected with both teams testing each other while dropping back when they lose the ball, but Eden Hazard almost showed a moment of brilliance in the 19^th minute when he swiftly passed Benjamin Pavard on the wing to have a shot on target but it was headed over by Raphael Varane.

Belgium had another chance in the 21^st minute from a corner when Toby Alderweireld’s half turn and shot was saved by the French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Kylian Mbappe passed a through ball to Benjamin Pavard which took several Belgium players out but his shot was saved by Thibaut Courtois.

The first half ended goalless with beautiful moments in the game but filled with wasted chances.

France took the lead in the 51^st minute from a corner taken by Antoine Griezmann for Samuel Umtiti to header into the net.

France almost doublesd their lead in the 56^th minute after a great team play allowed Mbappe to send Oliver Giroud goal side but his shot was blocked Mousa Dembele.

France started to play deep to defend their one-goal lead but Axel Witsel’s shot from outside the box was saved in the 81^st minute.

Kylian Mbappe continued to frustrate Belgium for poor sportsmanship when he wasted time by dragging the ball with him.

The game ended France 1-0 Belgium with France moving to the final to face Croatia while Belgium has to play the unforgiving third-place playoff.

France played defensively deep and pounced on the counter-attack with Mbappe leading the charge with his speed but it seems like France have matured since the 2016 Euros final defeat by playing it smart and defensive.

Source of Image: BBC