France vs. Belgium Bits.
This match could be almost dubbed as the English Premier League All Star Game. No fewer than a dozen players from the league should start in this match. Three play for Manchester United; (Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku). Four play at Chelsea; (Eden Hazard, Thibault Courtois, N'Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud). Other than that, this match pits the two teams with the most talent of the four remaining. That is to be expected from the second and third ranked teams in the current FIFA rankings.
France has the second youngest roster in this World Cup; but they have shed the underachieving that they exhibited during the past several major tournaments. The French may boast the strongest midfield of the remaining four teams which includes Pogba and Kante. They are potent up front with Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and the 19 year old phenom, Kylian Mbappe; who is responsible for three of the nine goals France has scored. You have to think that the full goal scoring potential of France has not yet been realized due to Giroud not having a shot on target yet and Griezmann not quite to the form of his 2016 Euro campaign despite his two penalty kick goals. The stars on defense is young and has had trouble breaking down defenses. 22 year olds Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez lead the French resistance.
If France has talent in all positions, the Belgians have an answer for all of them. This is the golden generation of Belgian football and they are at the peak of this era. Forwards Lukaku, Hazard and Dries Mertens are backed up by the likes of Fellaini, Mousa Dembele and Kevin de Bryne. Belgium has potted 14 goals so far in this World Cup which is one behind for the most ever at this stage; (Brazil, 2002). Nine different players have found the back of the net which is one away from the outputs that Italy, (2006) and France, (1982) had. The defense is experienced, led by Vincent Kompany and Jan Vertonghen. They were excellent in stifling Brazil's attack even after coach; Roberto Martinez, changed the formation. Defender; Thomas Meunier, will be out due to a second yellow card for tripping Neymar.
One may believe this could be a goal fest and it very well could be. But both sides have top goaltenders in Hugo Lloris and Belgium's tall tree; Thibault Courtois.
One matchup to keep an eye on is how N'Golo Kante defends Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bryne. Kante is a work horse and did well to thwart the Brazilians. Hazard is very slick on his feet and de Bryne has continued to dominate like he did all of last year with Manchester City's epic run in the Premier League.
Both teams were leaky in their Round of 16 matches. France gave up three goals to Argentina and Belgium had to come back from 2-1 down to Japan. However, each team looked strong in their quarterfinal matches.
This game is can't miss material; and the way this tournament has gone, this game could be an instant classic. This is Belgium's time. They can't rest their laurels on Qatar, they have to do this now. France can look forward to a strong showing in 2022 with their youth and future Talisman, Mbappe. I think Belgium finds a way on route to grabbing that trophy Sunday.
Belgium; 3-1
