The Belgian national team had the chance to achieve something unique yesterday. If they beat France in the semi-final, Belgium would reach their first ever World Cup final.
While the quarter final match against Brazil was open and exciting right from the start, this match was closed. France dropped deep and Belgium didn't dare to take risks to avoid the dangerous counter attacks from France. That nearly happened when Pogba played the ball behind the defense, but Courtois was quicker on the ball than Mbappé. Belgium had their best spell of the evening around the 20th minute. Hazard came close twice, but his attempts went wide or got blocked by Varane. The best chance of the first half was for Alderweireld: a corner felt invitingly for his left foot, but Lloris saved the ball out of his right corner. Afterwards, it would turn out to become the moment where Belgium could have changed the face of the game. Umtiti had to clear one dangerous cross from Hazard- the best Red Devil of the night and the tournament. France survived the short storm and took over. Giroud had a few chances but the biggest one felt for Pavard a few minutes before the break. The right back had to focus on following Hazard until that point, but he saw an opportunity to go forward and came face to face with Courtois. With an excellent foot save, our goalie made another claim for the throphy of best goalkeeper. It was goalless at the break after a tense first half. Far from adventurous football, but both teams had their chances.
The start of the second half couldn't be more dramatic for Belgium. France got themselves a corner in the 51th minute. Umtiti was a little bit quicker on the ball than Fellaini and headed it in the net. 1-0 down, a very poor position to be in against France. The Belgian team was clearly upset because Mbappé gave Giroud a good opportunity to deliver the knock-out blow with a brilliant back heel, but Moussa Dembélé luckily recovered in time. It would be his last action of the match, because he got substituted for Mertens. That change was needed, because Dembélé had a very poor match and Mertens could bring a new spark in the team. He did just that with some dangerous actions and crosses from the right side, but France closed the door to perfection. Fellaini had one good heading chance that went wide and got changed as well for Carrasco. Hazard directed the play, but Belgium couldn't find any breakthrough and in all honesty, the equalizer never seemed likely. Witsel tested the gloves of Lloris one more time, but France had the better chances to make it 2-0. Griezmann and Tolisso were denied by Courtois both in injury time. The performance of France again wasn't pretty, but they are in the final and there is not much we can say about that. In the end, we were to impotent in attack to really trouble France's organized defense. They will go into the final as big favorites, whether they play Croatia and England. The disappointment reigns in Belgium today, but at some point it will be replaced by feelings of pride that we should feel after this World Cup.