France and Belgium did great to overcome Uruguay and Brazil respectively, and they both booked their tickets to the semi-finals. The two teams will now lock horns on Tuesday, as they will fight for a spot at the final. England will clash against Croatia in the other semi-final, in this all-European stage of the World Cup. However, both teams will have to be very careful here, as there is no room for errors here.
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France got some very good news prior to their match against Uruguay, as their opponents did not have their key forward Edinson Cavani. It wasn’t a very pretty match between the two sides, as they were both cautious. Both teams created their fair share of scoring chances, but they didn’t have a lot of shots on target. France eventually took the lead at the 40th minute when Varane scored a beautiful header. Uruguay was not threatening France very much in that match, as France played excellent defense. They eventually sealed the qualification when Griezmann scored a lucky goal at the 61st minute. The opposing goalkeeper lost the ball from his hands and essentially handed out the qualification.
On the other hand, Belgium learned their lesson against Japan and didn’t allow themselves to slip again. Coach Roberto Martinez made a few changes in his line-up that really worked, as Belgium were much better at both ends of the pitch. Pushing Kevin De Bruyne more to the front worked wonders for Belgium who were really inspired. But the addition of Fellaini and Chadli in the midfield also gave a fresh breath to Belgium’s tactics. They were also fortunate at the start of the match, as they took the lead when Fernandinho scored an own goal at the 13th minute. Kevin De Bruyne scored a really nice goal at the 31st minute to give Belgium a two-goal lead. After that balanced first half Brazil took control of the match. They pressured Belgium really hard and tried to make a comeback with a goal at the 76th minute. But Belgium was really great on the defensive end and held on to the result.
Get more details: France vs Belgium World Cup Match-Up