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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wolverine GTR" data-source="post: 23399799" data-attributes="member: 158020">France 1 Belgium 0: Umtiti heads Les Bleus into World Cup final<img src="http://www.elakiri.com//www.elakiri.com//i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/07/10/20/4E195F9500000578-0-image-a-52_1531250579420.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/07/10/20/4E195F9500000578-0-image-a-52_1531250579420.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Samuel Umtiti was the unlikely hero as France reached the World Cup  final for the third time in 20 years courtesy of a 1-0 win over Belgium  in St Petersburg on Tuesday. Defender Umtiti headed home a corner from Antoine Griezmann in the  51st minute to settle the all-European tie, booking Les Bleus a trip to  Moscow and a clash against either Croatia or England.Goalkeepers  Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois both made smart saves to make sure an  intriguing game remained scoreless at the interval.However,  Umtiti popped up with the game's telling moment early in the second  half, nodding the ball home to score his third international goal.Belgium  pushed hard for an equaliser but Roberto Martinez watched on as his  team suffered their first defeat in 25 outings, ending their hopes of  winning the tournament for the first time in history as their so-called  golden generation came up short.Beaten finalists at Euro 2016 on  home soil, France will aim to go one better in Russia and emulate the  successful squad of 1998 which included Didier Deschamps, who  could emulate Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer by winning the World  Cup as both a player and manager.With Thomas Meunier suspended, Belgium shifted to a back four as Martinez selected Nacer Chadli on the right.Still, the change in shape did not appear to bother the  tournament's top-scorers in an absorbing first half, both teams  threatening a breakthrough as they refused to be overawed by the  occasion.Eden Hazard twice went close, narrowly missing the  target with a low, left-footed drive before seeing a curler with his  right deflected over by the head of centre-back Raphael Varane.Lloris' full-length  dive kept out a first-time strike from Tottenham colleague Toby  Alderweireld, while Courtois reacted quickly to block Benjamin Pavard's  attempt from a tight angle at the other end.While the full-back  at least hit the target, Olivier Giroud failed to test Courtois when  presented with a clear sight of goal by Kylian Mbappe's volleyed cross,  poking his attempt well wide under pressure.However, France needed just six minutes after the break to edge ahead.After Vincent Kompany's block turned away Giroud's shot, Griezmann's  inswinging delivery to the front post was turned in by Umtiti, who beat  Marouane Fellaini to head beyond Courtois.  Martinez - who had seen his team rally from a two-goal deficit in  their last-16 tie against Japan - reacted to the goal by sending on  Dries Mertens in place of Mousa Dembele.The substitute offered a  threat from Belgium's right wing too, with one teasing cross from the  flank seeing Fellaini narrowly miss the target with a header as he  looked to make amends for his part in the opener.Axel Witsel did  test Lloris from distance but France succeeded where Brazil had failed  in the last round, standing firm to stifle their neighbours in a nervy  finish and book a trip to Moscow.</blockquote>

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