Laila IjeomaFrance has advanced to the World Cup final with a 1-0 victory over Belgium.
The goal was scored by Samuel Umtiti, who dropped his marker Toby Alderweireld, outjumped the very tall Marouane Fellaini and headed home an Antoine Griezmann corner.
The ball was in the net before Belgium keeper Thiebaut Courtois could do anything about it.
France will play the winner of the other semifinal on Wednesday, England or Croatia.
The last time the French team was in the final was at Germany 2006 when they lost to Italy. The match was decided by a penalty shoot out.
It wasn’t a good day for the Belgian team as they dominated the entire second half but found it hard to hit the back of the net after several attempts by their front-men. The French defence just seemed impenetrable tonight.
Belgium coach in his verdict said:
“It was a question of details. Unfortunately for us the difference was a deadball situation. The game was very close, very tight. It was going to be decided by whoever could find that final touch in the box or a bit of luck in front of goal.
The effort from the players was magnificent, I couldn’t ask for more. In football you have to understand there are winners and losers but if you are going to lose, you do it while giving everything …
Now we need to get rid of this disappointment and make sure we finish on a high. These players don’t deserve to leave the tournament with a bad taste. We can’t be anything other than disappointed now but we will try to finish the tournament on a high [by winning the third-place playoff
