France booked their place in the final of the 2018 World Cup this evening courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Belgium at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg.
An absorbing first half saw both sides miss chances and both goalkeepers make top-class saves as the two teams went into the break goalless.
It took just six minutes of the second half for that to change, though, as Samuel Umtiti glanced his header past Thibaut Courtois at the near post to score what proved to be the only goal of the game.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
We have a cracker in store for you tonight as two of the standout teams of the tournament so far go head to head with a place in the final of the World Cup at stake. It is France against Belgium in Saint Petersburg, and the one thing that is hopefully guaranteed tonight is goals.
Let's waste no time in getting started with the team news!
Well, we'll start with the French and as expected Didier Deschamps welcomes Blaise Matuidi back into his side after the midfielder missed the quarter-final victory over Uruguay through injury.
Also as expected, Corentin Tolisso is the man to make way for the returning Matuidi in what is France's only change from that 2-0 triumph over Uruguay in the last round.
Naturally the attackers have won more headlines, but as ever N'Golo Kante has been a force to be reckoned with in the centre of midfield and he is likely to be crucial again this evening. Belgium boast some of the world's best creative midfielders in their ranks - including Kante's Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard - and it will be down to him more than anyone to stifle that creativity.
Indeed, with three goals Mbappe is the highest-scorer World Cup teenager since Pele hit six in 1958. Incidentally, Pele scored a hat-trick against France in the semi-final of that tournament, making him the last teenager to score in the last four of the World Cup.
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Griezmann has now scored seven goals in his last six knockout matches in major tournaments, which is in stark contrast to the goalscoring form of Olivier Giroud, who is yet to have a single shot on target at this World Cup.
Tottenham Hotspur Mousa Dembele comes into the starting line up in Meunier place, which prompts a reshuffle back to Roberto Martinez's preferred 3-4-2-1 formation having switched things up against Brazil.
Lukaku looks like he will be playing in his more familiar central position tonight, though, and his threat cannot be downplayed. The Manchester United forward has been directly involved in 20 goals from his last 13 games for Belgium in all competitions, scoring 17 and creating three more. He is goalless so far in the knockout rounds, but remains Belgium's top scorer at this World Cup.
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It is in midfield where they are perhaps not quite as strong, but that is still a powerful and combative quartet in the middle of the park and they will certainly not give France an easy passage through to attack that backline this evening.
Eden Hazard needs no introduction either, and the Chelsea winger has now been involved in 14 goals from his last 14 Belgium outings, scoring eight and assisting six.
Indeed, France have been installed as the new favourites to lift the trophy after Belgium eliminated Brazil, although they will be wary of the quality throughout their opponents' side tonight.
Victory today would see them reach their third World Cup final in the space of 20 years, ever since lifting the trophy in 1998. The names of Zidane, Thuram, Henry and co are forever etched in the history of France football, and the current crop are potentially now just 180 minutes away from emulating them.
In 2002 they memorably crashed out in the group stages without even scoring a goal as defending champions, before bouncing back to reach the final in 2006, when they were beaten by Italy on penalties in the final after Zidane's infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi.
Perhaps the biggest low came four years later, though, when the players took the unprecedented decision to go on strike during the World Cup and were subsequently eliminated early once again.
Four years ago there were signs of the shoots of recovery when they made it to the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Germany, and reaching the Euro 2016 final now looks like another step on the right path for this hugely talented bunch of players. The scary things is, they are likely to be a force for some time to come too.
The standout match - and arguably the game of the tournament - came in the last 16 when they overcame Argentina 4-3 in a thriller, while Uruguay were the next to fall courtesy of a 2-0 victory which was aided by a poor goalkeeping error from Muslera.
The Argentina game in particular may have raised questions over their defensive solidity, but that was a match littered with wonder goals and France have not conceded a single goal from open play apart from in that game. Deschamps's side have also scored with each of their last six shots on target at the World Cup, so they are looking impressive at both ends of the field.
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Indeed, excluding penalty shootouts France have lost just one of their last 13 World Cup knockout games, winning 10 of those. This will be their sixth appearance in the semi-finals of the competitions, losing their first three in 1958, 1982 and 1986, but then winning their last two in 1998 and 2006.
The only previous occasion they have made it this far came in 1986, when their run was ended by Diego Maradona and Argentina, who went on to lift the trophy. The Red Devils actually went on to lose to France in the third-placed playoff of that tournament, meaning that they are already guaranteed at least their join best-ever finish at a World Cup.
The Red Devils have only ever reached one major final before - the 1980 European Championship - but they did not contest a semi-final that year due to the format of the competition and once again fell to defeat at the hands of West Germany.
The Red Devils have arguably been the standout team of the tournament so far, and beating Brazil in the last round was a real statement of intent. There is a very real possibility that Belgium will etch a new name into the famous gold trophy this year.
Victories over Panama, Tunisia and England - the latter of which with a second-string side - saw them finish top of Group G, but they looked to be on course for a shock exit when they fell two goals down to Japan in the last 16 - only to launch a stirring comeback and snatch a 3-2 victory with virtually the final kick of the game.
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Everyone has known about Belgium's talent for some time now, but they have now begun to show it on the biggest stage. They were also tipped as dark horses last World Cup, only to fall to Argentina in the quarter-finals in what was their first appearance at the tournament since 2002.
What's more, Belgium have also had nine different goalscorers, which is a tally on Italy in 2006 and France in 1982 (10 each) can better in World Cup history.
Belgium have won the last seven of those, and in the World Cup alone they have won nine of their last 10 outings, with the only exception being that quarter-final defeat to Argentina four years ago.
This is such a difficult one to call between two teams brimming with both confidence and ability. both sides could flourish in an open game and hopefully we will see a match befitting of the talent on display, but we're going to side marginally with France. It really could go either way, though!
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: France 2-1 Belgium
Somewhat surprisingly, Belgium actually boast the better record over the 73 previous games, winning 30 of them to France's 24. Belgium are also unbeaten in the last three meetings, winning one and drawing two.
France have won all three previous meetings at major tournaments, though, the most recent of which came at the 1986 World Cup when they ran out 4-2 winners in the third-placed playoff.
Michel Platini was the star of the show that day with a hat-trick in a 5-0 group-stage victory, setting France well on their way to eventually lifting the trophy.
FRANCE STARTING XI: Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, L Hernandez; Pogba, Kante, Matuidi; Mbappe, Giroud, Griezmann
BELGIUM STARTING XI: Courtois; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Chadli, Witsel, Fellaini, Dembele; De Bruyne, Lukaku, E Hazard
Spurs v Spurs#FRABEL #THFC #worldcup pic.twitter.com/MDoNxHQjvx
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 10, 2018
We remain goalless between France and Belgium, but the quality has been really high and the game is balanced on a knife edge here. both teams have shown that they have the ability to hurt the other in the blink of an eye, and we should be in for a brilliant second half!
Giroud was slow to react with his chance after good work from Griezmann and Mbappe, fluffing his lines with his finish, while Pavard was denied by a big save from Courtois towards the end of the half when he really should have scored.
Hazard has been the star performer for Belgium so far and almost gave them the lead on two occasions, first with a low drive across the face of goal which flashed wide and then being denied with a curling effort which Varane flicked over his own crossbar.
Belgium have enjoyed the majority of possession in this match, but the shot count is fairly heavily in favour of France. Check out all the match stats for this game by clicking here.
The Barcelona man gets above Fellaini - which is no mean feat itself - and the final touch may well come off the Manchester United man. No doubt that Umtiti will be claiming it, though!
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5 - Only Harry Kane (6 goals) has been involved in more goals at the 2018 World Cup than Antoine Griezmann (3 goals, 2 assists). Famous. #FRA #BEL #FRABEL #WorldCup
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 10, 2018
1998 - It's the first time since 1998 that 3 defenders (Lizarazu, Blanc & Thuram) score a goal for France in the same World Cup (Pavard, Varane & Umtiti). Mental. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/ooKUrAv9aI
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) July 10, 2018
Kylian Mbappe... stop that! #FRABEL #worldcup pic.twitter.com/4LQlKXgvDm
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 10, 2018
Football matches at this level are determined by the narrowest of margins, though, and in the end Umtiti's header was the difference. France are in their third World Cup final in the past 20 years, whereas Belgium will face either Croatia or England in the third-placed playoff.
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Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's World Cup semi-final as France pip Belgium to a place in Sunday's showpiece in Moscow. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
I don't need to remind you that there is another semi-final taking place tomorrow night containing England as they take on Croatia, and you can follow every twist and turn of that match with us from 6pm.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
