St Petersburg: On a chilly night at the St Petersburg stadium, France beat Belgium by a solitary goal to make it to the final of the FIFA World Cup after 12 years. The weather may have been a factor in it being one of the quieter games of this tournament, despite the explosion of talent on the pitch. But the absence of Latin Americans in an all-European semifinal meant that the stadium missed the atmosphere that was there all through this edition.
Samuel Umtiti's goal in the 51st minute took France beyond their neighbours, but on a day when Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid was most talked about, contenders for his spot, Kylian Mbappe and Eden Hazard, lit up the night with some scintillating display.
France President Emmanuel Macron was in attendance to watch two of the World Cup's best teams in action, and he was not disappointed.
Kylian Mbappe went flying off the blocks as soon as the whistle blew, storming down the right flank and giving a low cross to Olivier Giroud. It was cleared, and Giroud would go on to miss many an opportunity like that in the remainder of the game.
The striker had, so efficiently, played the role of the “dummy” forward in previous games, where he would either draw away other defenders or assist goals. But this time, he was left unmarked on many an occasion, yet he failed to find the net every time his teammates fed him the ball.
Much of the first period was in Belgium's control. Eden Hazard continued his blistering form with some incredible dribbles and shots, but if it wasn't for some resolute defending from both French centre-backs, Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti, Hazard would have celebrated a couple of stunning goals.
Both defences withstood immense pressure from both sets of attackers. It might have been love-all when the players walked back into the tunnel after 45 minutes, but the quality that both teams possessed shone brightly to keep things level. Throughout the game, Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois were kept busy, making several vital saves.
After the break, in the 51st minute, Samuel Umtiti rose highest to head the ball in off a corner, continuing the trend this World Cup of goalscoring defenders grabbing headlines. Giroud's turn and shot was cleared by Kompany. The resulting corner, taken by Greizmann, found Umtiti, who headed it into the near side of the goal.
Mousa Dembele's inclusion was the only surprise change in the two sides. He impressed in the first half, but proved to be too slow for the French attackers. Dembele was brought off for the winger Dries Mertens, who made his presence felt as soon as he came on, when an excellent piece of play from Lukaku and De Bruyne found the winger in space and he crossed it, only for it to be cleared by Varane.
Cross after cross flew in from that right wing, one cleared by Hugo Lloris, another headed just wide by Fellaini. The Belgians pressed and attacked with all their might. They were not going to give up at their nation's best—and probably last—shot in its history to win the World Cup.
The French worked hard to play a counter-attacking game and it was working well. Not that they scored goals from such manoeuvres, but the tackles came flying in from their opponents, thus breaking the flow of the game, something that the French welcomed with open arms.
There were plenty of familiar faces on the pitch for both teams. As many as 14 players from the English Premier League were in the starting lineup, mostly in Belgium squad. Kevin De Bruyne, who seemed to lack the usual bite he had all tournament, tried his best to feed Romelu Lukaku, who in turn also missed several good opportunities. Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante in midfield played crucial roles in sealing off advances to the goal.
In what could be considered a derby game for the two countries with otherwise good relations, things got ugly towards the end with a flurry of bookings and fouls. Mbappe was at the heart of things yet again, with the Belgians showing their frustration on the young prodigy for his theatrics. He was booked for time wasting and several other Belgians faced the same punishment for venting out their frustration on him.
At the end of the day, the game may have lacked the usual festivities that became so common at this Cup, but a good game of football was served on a silver platter. And boy, can the French cook a storm!