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France-Belgium could be wild one
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Considering the attacking strength of France and Belgium, there's potential for a goal-fest when the European neighbors meet in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday.
There was less at stake the last time the teams last went head-to-head at the World Cup, a 4-2 victory for France in the third-place match in 1986. That was the last competitive match between the two countries but there have been eight international friendlies since.
Belgium won two of those, including the last one: an exhibition three years ago at Stade de France when the Belgians took a three-goal lead five minutes into the second half and held on to win 4-3.
With the second-youngest roster at the World Cup, France has shown no fear and advanced to its first World Cup semifinal since 2006 led by 19-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe and a pair of inexperienced attacking fullbacks in Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez.
"We're not scared of anyone," Pavard said. "We've been confident from the start and we're not asking any questions of ourselves."
ON THE MEND
Counting injury time, Croatia will have played the equivalent of roughly four matches in 11 days by the end of its semifinal against England — even if it doesn't go to extra time again. The Croats are licking their wounds after defeating Denmark and Russia in successive shootouts.
Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic appeared to tweak his hamstring against Russia, which kept him from taking goal kicks by the end of the match. Starting right back Sime Vrsaljko had to be replaced during extra time with an apparent leg injury, though fellow defender Dejan Lovren was optimistic Sunday that Vrsaljko would be able to play with the semifinal looming on Wednesday.
CROWD SUPPORT
Russia's players and coach addressed a crowd of their newfound fans Sunday in Moscow, a day after getting eliminated by Croatia in a shootout. The national team's unexpected run to the quarterfinals sparked a surge of support from fans who had been mostly indifferent before the World Cup started. By the knockout stage, supporters were chanting "Roosee-ah!" at stadiums where the team wasn't even playing.