Umtiti Sends FRANCE into FINAL

France on Tuesday reached  World Cup final after beating Belgium 1-0 in Saint Petersburg.

France will play either England or Croatia in Sunday’s final.

• France 1-0 Belgium (FULL TIME)
• Umtiti heads in from corner (51)
• France into World Cup final
• They face England or Croatia
• Second semi-final on Wednesday

PLAYER RATINGS

France: Lloris (8), Pavard (6), Varane (8), Umtiti (8), Hernandez (6), Pogba (8), Kante (7), Matuidi (7), Mbappe (7), Griezmann (7), Giroud (6).

Subs: N’Zonzi (5), Tolisso (5).

Belgium: Courtois (7), Alderweireld (6), Kompany (6), Vertonghen (6), Chadli (5), Fellaini (5), Witsel (5), Dembele (5), De Bruyne (6), Hazard (7), Lukaku (5).

Subs: Mertens (6), Carrasco (5), Batshuayi (NA).

 

PREVIEW

France and Belgium meet for the 74th time tonight. None of their previous 73 meetings have meant as much for the neighbouring nations as this. A place in the World Cup final is up for grabs.

BELGIUM TEAM NEWS

Team to play France: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Chadli, Fellaini, Dembele, Witsel, De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku

Subs: Mignolet, Casteels, Vermaelen, Boyata, Dendoncker, Tielemans, T. Hazard, Carrasco, Mertens, Januzaj, Batshuayi

 

FRANCE TEAM NEWS

Team to play Belgium: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, L. Hernandez, Pogba, Kante, Matuidi, Mbappe, Giroud, Griezmann

Subs: Kimpembe, Lemar, Dembele, Tolisso, Nzonzi, Mandanda, Rami, Fekir, Sidibe, Thauvin, Mendy, Areola

DEMBELE STARTS

Just the one change for Belgium but it’s an interesting one.

Full-back Meunier is suspended so Tottenham midfielder Dembele comes in to start on the right of a 3-4-3.

Will have to see how exactly Belgium line-up but otherwise they are unchanged from their quarter-final win over Brazil.