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FIFA World Cup 2018 semifinals: Umtiti scores only goal, France reaches
finals beating Belgium
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July 13, 2018
Original URL: https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup_2018_semifinals:_Umtiti_scores_only_goal,_France_reaches_finals_beating_Belgium
On Tuesday, France defeated Belgium 1 -- 0 in the FIFA football World
Cup semifinals. Samuel Umtiti scored the only goal of the match, and
France is to play Croatia in the final.
Belgium had better ball possession in the match. French forward Olivier
Giroud faced some of his Chelsea teammates Thibaut Courtois and Eden
Hazard. In the 19th minute, Eden Hazard's attempt for the goal was
headed away by French defender Raphaël Varane. French goalkeeper Hugo
Lloris saved Toby Alderweireld's shot in the 22nd minute. Benjamin
Pavard was denied the opening goal by Courtois in the 39th minute. The
first half ended goallessly.
In the second half, Romelu Lukaku missed a chance to put Belgium in
lead, from Axel Witsel's assist. Olivier Giroud missed a chance in the
51st minute, blocked. Antoine Griezmann took the corner, and French
defender Samuel Umtiti scored from a header, giving France the lead.
Kylian Mbappé assisted Giroud five minutes later but was blocked.
Belgium made the first substitution at the one-hour mark as Mousa
Dembélé was substituted off for Dries Mertens. Hazard was the first
player to receive a yellow card in the match, for a bad foul in the 63rd
minute. Toby Alderweireld was booked in the 71st minute. Kevin De Bruyne
missed a chance to equalise for Belgium in the 76th minute from Hazard's
assist. Paul Pogba's 79th-minute shot missed the target.
Belgium used their second substitution in the 80th minute as Marouane
Fellaini was replaced by Yannick Carrasco. Lloris stopped Witsel's shot
on target in the 81st minute. In the last few minutes of the 90-minute
game, French defender Blaise Matuidi was injured and was replaced by
Corentin Tolisso. N'Golo Kanté, Mbappé and Jan Vertonghen were booked
late in the game. The match ended with France scoring the only goal.
After the match, Belgian coach Roberto Martínez said, "It was a close
game and it was very tight and it was going to be decided by that bit of
luck in front of goal. The attitude of the players was brilliant and we
couldn't ask for any more. We have to understand one team wins and the
other loses, and we did what we could."
French coach Didier Deschamps said, "The most important match is on
Sunday, we have given ourselves a huge privilege to reach the final of
the World Cup. I was there two years ago [Euro 2016 final] and it was so
painful that we want to taste the victory now. It is nothing to win the
semi-final after losing in the final two years ago, we have this
privilege to give happiness to these people, but we will try to give
even more happiness on Sunday."
This is the second consecutive final for France in a major tournament.
Two years ago, France reached the finals of UEFA Euro 2016, but lost to
Portugal in the extra time.
France is now to face Croatia. France has featured in two FIFA World Cup
finals to date, winning the 1998 tournament, while losing the 2006 World
Cup to Italy.
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N'Golo Kanté
Kylian Mbappé
Olivier Giroud
Steven
N'Zonzi
Blaise Matuidi
Corentin Tolisso
|goals2 = Eden Hazard
Toby Alderweireld
Jan Vertonghen
Mousa Dembélé
Dries Mertens
Marouane Fellaini
Yannick
Carrasco
Nacer Chadli
Michy Batshuayi
|stadium = Saint Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia
|attendance = 64,286
|referee = Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)
}}
== Related news ==
*
== Sources ==
* https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/match/300331531/#match-liveblog
* https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44692297
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntQsMSuEbyg
|pub = You Tube
|date = July 10, 2018
}}
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