France moves on to Cup finale

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – They’re young, they’re brash and they’re collectively worth a billion dollars. The one thing missing for this French squad is an international title.

Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and France are about to get that chance.

Les Bleus are headed to the World Cup final.

Samuel Umtiti clinched a 1-0 win over Belgium – and earned the approval of watching French President Emmanuel Macron in the VIP seats at St. Petersburg Stadium – by scoring on a header off a corner kick in the 51st minute on Tuesday.

“Vive la France! Vive la Republique!” France forward Antoine Griezmann shouted during postgame celebrations.

Umtiti played his part in a strong defensive effort by the French, too, 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,” Umtiti said, “but we all delivered a big game.”

France’s 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.

They certainly hope to keep the party going on Sunday in the final in Moscow.

France – with an average age of 26 – will face either Croatia or England, who play Wednesday at the Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital.

France has a shot at redemption after losing its last two major finals – at the 2006 World Cup when Zinedine Zidane was sent off for a nasty head-butt and the 2016 European Championship on home soil.

“We’re immensely privileged to be in the World Cup final,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It was so painful two years ago we have to savor it.”