Vive la France! Les Bleus march on to Moscow final
Deschamps’ cagey crew beats Belgium
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — They’re young, they’re brash and they’re collectively worth just over a billion dollars.
The one thing missing for this particular French squad is an international title.
Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and their France teammates are about to get that chance.
Les Bleus are headed to the World Cup final after Samuel Umtiti clinched a 1-0 win over Belgium on Tuesday night — and earned the approval of French President Emmanuel Macron, who watched from the VIP seats at St. Petersburg Stadium.
Umtiti headed home the 51st-minute winner from a corner.
“Vive la France! Vive la Republique!” forward Antoine Griezmann shouted during postgame celebrations.
Umtiti also played his part in a strong defensive effort, helping to shut out the highest-scoring team at the tournament and leaving Belgium’s “golden generation” of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku to regret another missed opportunity at a major tournament.
“It’s me that scored, but we all delivered a big game,” Umtiti said.
The French players danced on the field after the final whistle and their fans sang in the stands long past the end of the match, surrounded by yellow-clad security.
In Sunday’s final in Moscow, France — with an average age of 26 — will face either Croatia or England, who play Wednesday at Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital.
It’s a shot at redemption for France after losing its past two major finals — at the 2006 World Cup, when Zinedine Zidane was sent off for headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi, and the 2016 European Championship on home soil.
“We’re immensely privileged to be in the World Cup final,” coach Didier Deschamps said. “It was so painful two years ago, so we have to savor it.”
Deschamps now has the chance to become the third person to win the World Cup as a player and a coach, after German great Franz Beckenbauer and Brazil’s Mario Zagallo. As France captain, Deschamps raised soccer’s most prized trophy in 1998.
Deschamps has faced some criticism for being too pragmatic, given the superstar flair at his disposal, but his team was set up superbly against an opponent that was largely restricted to half-chances and was brilliantly denied on two occasions by France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Midway through the first half, Lloris dived to his right to claw away a Toby Alderweireld shot, then beat an uncharacteristically lackluster Lukaku to a dangerous teasing cross in the closing stages as a late Belgian aerial bombardment failed to find an equalizer.
Set pieces have dominated these finals and that trend continued when a Griezmann corner was met by the head of Umtiti, who crucially got out in front of tall Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini to nod in at the near post.
Up in the corporate seats, president Macron reacted to the goal by shaking the hand of King Philippe of Belgium as FIFA president Gianni Infantino sat between them.
“Unfortunately for us, the difference was just a dead-ball situation, a set play,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said.
“The game was very tight, and it was going to be decided by the one that could find that final touch in the box.”
After reaching the quarterfinals at both the 2014 World Cup and the European Championship in 2016, the Belgians again missed the chance to get to a major-tournament final.
Leading the scoring in Russia with 14 goals, many thought this would be their year.