France – Belgium

Both teams deserve to be in the final, but only one will do it. This is the World Cup 1/2-final game between France and Belgium at the Saint-Petersburg Arena. And here are our winning soccer predictions for this clash.

France are playing for their first World Cup final since 2006, when they lost against Italy. Meanwhile Belgium are playing for their first appearance at the World Cup final in their history. In 1986 they also reached the 1/2-finals, but they were unable to make the next step. Now they have a golden generation, which is ready to rewrite history.

The fact that France reached the 1/2-final of the World Cup is not a surprise. All pundits were clear in their expert opinions that France are one of the big favourites for the title. Just like Belgium, this team is having an amazing generation which is hungry for success and glory. Especially after losing the European Cup to Portugal just two years ago.

It’s safe to say that Belgium made the next step when they changed Marc Wilmots with Roberto Martinez. The ex-Everton manager made the team stronger than ever, bringing a lot of tactical discipline in it. Martinez is a coach who knows how to get the best from his players. And now he’s doing exactly this in the Belgian team – all players are performing at their best levels.

Didier Deschamps is lucky enough to have a full squad avaliable for this decisive phase of the tournament. Juventus’ midfielder Blaise Matuidi missed the 2-0 win over Uruguay because of suspension, but now he’s once again avaliable for selection. Most likely Matuidi will return to the starting eleven, beginning alongside N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba in midfield. In attack we all know how things are working for France – Olivier Giroud is bringing some physical presence, while Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe are doing the magic.

Roberto Martinez’ problems are related to the suspension of the right wing back Thomas Meunier. It remains to be seen who is going to replace him against Les Bleus. Except of this, we shall see the same team from few days ago and the win over Brazil.

Against Selecao Roberto Martinez took a great decision, moving Kevin De Bruyne upfront for a more offensive role. De Bruyne showed his masterclass and scored one of the two goals for his team. Alongside the captain Eden Hazard and the powerhouse Romelu Lukaku, De Bruyne will be one of the most dangerous players for the French team on the pitch.

Belgium’s Thomas Vermaelen and Eden Hazard are sharing the same opinion that Kylian Mbappe is France’s most dangerous player at this moment. The PSG star man didn’t score against Uruguay in the previous game, but he did it twice against Argentina in the 1/8-finals. Mbappe is a superstar in the making. He’s fast, technical and deadly in front of the goal. If Belgium don’t pay a special attention to him, they could have some serious problems on Tuesday night.

The same could be said about the Red Devils’ captain Eden Hazard. The Chelsea man played a great game against Brazil a few days ago. He dribbled a lot and he was moving all over the pitch. When Hazard is playing well, Belgium is also playing well.

These are our winning soccer predictions for the World Cup 1/2-final game between France and Belgium. We have all reasons to expect a really thrilling game here. One of these two teams will reach the World Cup final. But who? We shall wait and see.