France vs Belgium: 5 things we learned

In the first of two all-European semi-finals, France faced their neighbors Belgium for a spot in the finals. Many Fans had hoped to see goals, goals, and more goals, but they were sorely disappointed. Les Bleus managed to earn a win inside 90 minutes, but the goal came from a rather unlikely source: Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.

At the end of the day, though, it doesn’t matter who scores the goal, it’s simply how to get ahead. Thanks to Umtiti’s header, France are now through to their third World Cup final and will be looking forward to taking on Croatia in the final on Sunday.

Here are five observations from France’s narrow win over Belgium.

1. Set pieces the order of the day

How did Umtiti grab his goal? Thanks to a set piece. That’s become the order of the day at this summer’s tournament. From the opening match in which Russia crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0 to the latter stages, goals (namely headers) from a set piece have become more commonplace than goals one would watch over and over again on YouTube in a highlights reel. That’s not to say there have not been quite a few crackers – two were scored in the seven-goal thriller between France and Argentina – but a header from a set piece situation (such as a corner kick) seems to be more and more par for the course.

2. Down but not out for Belgium

The Red Devils were on a 24-game unbeaten streak heading into their contest with France, which included wins over Brazil in the quarter-finals and England in the group stage. However, that run came to an abrupt end at the hands of Les Bleus. It will certainly hurt, as Belgium was just 90 minutes away from its first ever World Cup final, but even though the Red Devils are down, they’re certainly not out. With stars like Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, and Kevin De Bruyne in their ranks – and all of whom are in their primes – Roberto Martinez’s men are still a very strong contender to get their hands on a title. Whether this golden generation makes it the 2020 EURO tournament or the 2022 World Cup remains to be seen, though.

3. Nothing wrong with playing “anti-football”

Belgium’s bitter players, namely Eden Hazard and his Chelsea teammate Thibaut Courtois hit out at France, noting that they played “anti-football”. Simply put, France adopted an ultra-defensive approach, but we’ve all seen numerous occasions where teams adopt the same approach and it pays off. Iceland was one such side at the EURO 2016 tournament, and the tiny nation did the same thing against Argentina to much success. Another was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal at the same EURO tournament and beat France 1-0 in the final.

Having learned from that, France is taking the same approach. Les Bleus showed they can play great attacking football – as we all saw in their win over Argentina – but being open does come at a price, as La Albiceleste nearly clawed their way back into the game. France clearly learned from this and decided to play a tighter test against Belgium – and it worked, showing that there is nothing wrong with playing “ugly”.

4. Romelu Lukaku fails to deliver on the bigger stage

The Manchester United man started off this tournament well, with four goals in the group stage to set himself up like a possible contender for the Golden Shoe. However, since then, he’s contributed zero. much to the frustration of fans. As noted before, Lukaku has been described as a “flat-track bully” for showing up against smaller sides but failing to deliver when it really counts.

He’ll be really disappointed with his performance against France, and whilst he looked threatening at times against Brazil, he had nothing to show for his efforts. Against Japan, where he was expected to use his size to his advantage against a smaller team, he was largely absent as well.

However, he’ll have a shot at redemption as Belgium face England in the third-place game. It’s not where the Red Devils wanted to be, but if they can finish third, they will have exceeded their best ever performance at a World Cup.

5. France will be fancying its chances…but not overly arrogant

Croatia might have played plenty of extra minutes, but the Vatreni still have plenty in the tank. France won’t be as overconfident as England going into this final, and will definitely approach it with extreme caution. Deschamps will have certainly observed Croatia’s grit and determination to come back from 1-0 down against England and will make sure not to make the same mistakes the Three Lions did as France looks to finally end its 20-year wait to get its hands on the World Cup.