The final two South American teams in the World Cup were eliminated on Friday, as France and Belgium posted wins to set up a semifinal matchup between the bordering nations.
Belgium’s victory will make this the first World Cup in which at least one of Brazil, Germany, or Argentina hasn’t reached the semifinal round of the tournament.
Varane, Griezmann Send France to Semis
Friday’s first game saw France have little trouble getting past Uruguay in a 2-0 victory. Without striker Edinson Cavani, who was ruled out of the match with a calf injury, Uruguay had trouble generating many dangerous chances, with Luis Suarez failing to register a single shot on goal.
That left the match largely in the hands of Uruguay’s defense, which had the unenviable task of keeping the explosive French attack at bay. The South American side hung tight for most of the first half before Raphael Varane guided a header in off of a free kick in the 40th minute to give France a 1-0 halftime lead.
With Uruguay looking for ways to tie up the game, they could scarcely afford any major errors. But when Antoine Griezmann sent a knuckling strike towards goal a little over an hour into the match, Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera’s attempted punch only deflected the ball, which fell over the line and into the goal to extend France’s advantage to two goals, a margin that would stand until the end of the match.
French manager Didier Deschamps said after the match that he was proud of how his team has played throughout the tournament so far.
“Some big teams have been knocked out, but we have grown,” Deschamps said after the match. “Beating Argentina in the last round could have been a one-off, but once again we have shown our mettle.”
Belgium Outlasts Brazil
In Friday’s other semifinal, Belgium and Brazil played a fast-paced, open brand of soccer that saw chances traded back and forth for much of the first half. The scoring opened in the 13th minute, when a corner by Eden Hazard came off of Fernandinho’s right arm and deflected into Brazil’s net for an own goal.
It seemed clear that this would not be the end of the scoring, however. 30 minutes into the game, Belgium executed yet another fluid breakaway off an opponent’s set piece. The counterattack ended with the ball at the feet of Kevin De Bruyne, who powered it into the bottom left corner of the net past Alisson to make the score 2-0.
The second half saw the action calm down slightly, as Belgium looked to tighten up defensively a bit and protect their two goal lead. That game plan worked flawlessly up until the 76th minute, when Renato Augusto placed a header perfectly into the corner of the net, cutting the deficit to a single goal.
Brazil would threaten several more times in the final minutes, but Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was up to the task. Courtois stopped a curling shot from Neymar deep into stoppage time, tipping it over the bar for his eighth and final save of the match.
After the game, Belgian manager Roberto Martinez praised his team’s effort against a Brazil side that many had picked to win the tournament.
“Sometimes you have to accept that Brazil have so much finesse and quality that they’re going to break you down,” Martinez said as he came off the pitch. “But we didn’t accept it. Not for one minute did they give up. This was something special.”
As the first two semifinalists, France and Belgium are now the favorites to win the World Cup. Ladbrokes has France at 2/1, while Belgium is a close second choice at 5/2. The two teams will meet on Tuesday for a spot in the final.
