With Spain eliminating Croatia and advancing into the semi-finals, the top four teams of this World Cup have all been decided.

They are France, England, Spain and Belgium.

As can be seen from the distribution areas of these teams, this is another great victory for European football.

Europeans dominated the top four of this World Cup, while their arch-rivals, Latin America, were completely wiped out.

Since the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Latin American teams have missed the finals of four consecutive World Cups.

In 2006 and this year, they didn't even make it to the semi-finals.

The situation in which South American football competed with European football or even had the upper hand is gone forever. Now the football world has officially entered a new pattern in which European football dominates the world.

This result is not surprising. The local leagues in South America cannot compete with the leagues in European countries, which leads to a large number of local players leaving to play in the top five leagues.

The loss of a large number of outstanding players has lowered the competitive level of the leagues in South American countries, causing the level of local players to begin to decline.

The decline in the level of local players will directly affect the combat effectiveness of the national team, leading to worse performance of the national team.

To solve this problem, it ultimately comes down to developing a good local league and retaining as many talents as possible.

Otherwise, so many outstanding players would have left their homeland at a young age and gone to Europe to make their living. Even if they succeeded in the end, they would probably have become part of European football.

However, these are things that the South Americans need to consider, as the European football world is cheering their victory at this time.

After the final four lists of this World Cup were announced, some debates were inevitable within the football world.

Everyone is arguing over who they think will win the championship.

Among these four teams, Spain is the defending champion and has won two World Cups in a row, so it has been regarded as the favorite to win the championship from the beginning.

But the performance of the French team was not inferior to them at all. In addition, the overall lineup of the French team was younger and more reasonable, and the players in various positions were very strong. They were not as dependent on Lin Quan's performance as Spain.

Football has always been a team sport, so many people are more optimistic about the French team.

As for England and Belgium, the fact that the Three Lions made it to the semi-finals this year has already surprised the British. As for honors such as the championship, they cannot say that they have no ideas in their minds, but they also know that with the strength of the England team, the hope of winning this World Cup is slim.

Apart from anything else, the question is whether we can survive the Spanish team in the semi-finals.

Even if they manage to beat the Spanish team, they will most likely face their nemesis, the French team, in the final.

Since the beginning of this century, in the seven matches between England and France, England has one win, two draws and four losses, being at a disadvantage in all aspects.

And that was the French team that was in a state of recovery. Now they are facing the French team at its peak, and their chances of winning are even slimmer! As for the European Red Devils Belgium, although their lineup is very strong and everyone thinks they are quite strong, those who have watched their games do not have much confidence in this team.

I always feel that this team can only fight when the wind is in their favor, but not when the wind is against them.

Their opponent in the semi-final, the French team, is a tough opponent. Belgium will probably have a hard time getting past them.

…

Although the outside world is more optimistic about the French team, the Belgian players expressed their confidence in defeating the French team when they were interviewed by reporters before the game.

Hazard: "The French team is strong, but we are a better team. My teammates and I will defeat them in tomorrow's game and prove ourselves!"

Although Hazard is the captain of the Belgian team, the Blues' top player has not performed well in this World Cup.

Of the 14 goals scored in five games for Belgium, Hazard has only scored once, and that was a penalty.

This is completely incomparable to Lukaku who scored 4 goals. As for the number of assists, De Bruyne and Lin Quan, who got 4 assists, tied for the top of the assist list of this World Cup, while Hazard only had 1 assist.

Hazard's performance was completely inconsistent with the outside world's expectations of him before the game. As recognized by many fans as the player who is best at breakthroughs besides Messi and Lin, Hazard should have achieved a more explosive performance.

After all, Belgium's opponents in the group stage were not strong, and Hazard should have achieved better data.

But that didn't happen, so Hazard is anxious.

He was eager to prove himself. If he couldn't achieve anything in this game, he would probably disappoint the fans who supported him.

Compared to Hazard who is eager to prove himself, Lu, who performed well in this World Cup, is inexplicably optimistic: "The French team's forwards are very strong. Their number 10 is very fast and can almost catch up with me, but I am better than him. Their defenders can't defend me, so we must be the final winner!"

The reporter who interviewed him was speechless after hearing what he said: Are you, a center forward, sure you want to compete in speed with the opponent's winger?

Although Lukaku's speed is indeed not slow, he is still far behind Mbappe. According to official statistics of the World Cup, Mbappe is the fastest winger among all teams in this World Cup.

His terrifying impact power impressed everyone who had watched the French team play.

The last person to be interviewed was Belgium's midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. Compared to the first two opponents, De Bruyne, who is not good at dealing with reporters, is a completely honest man: "The French team is stronger than us, so this game will be difficult, but we will not give up easily. We will definitely play our own way and try our best to win this game!"

The reporter who interviewed De Bruyne looked at De Bruyne, then looked at his two teammates, and couldn't help but wonder: Are these people really from the same team?

Lin Quan saw De Bruyne’s interview video on TV and couldn’t help but put his hand on his forehead.

How could this guy boost the opponent's morale and destroy his own prestige before the game? Although the overall strength of the French team is indeed stronger than that of Belgium, such words must never be said. If you want to say it, you have to wait until the game is over, and you can only say it after defeating the French team.

It would be inappropriate to say such things at other times. Thinking of this, he called De Bruyne:

"Hey, what's up? I'm about to turn off the lights here!"

De Bruyne seemed to be in a hurry to go to bed. The semi-final would be played tomorrow and he didn't want his schedule to be disrupted.

"I was in trouble, but now I'm fine. Keep playing tomorrow and see you in the finals!"

After Lin Quan finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

De Bruyne on the other end of the phone felt a little puzzled. Why would he call in the middle of the night just to say something like this?

He was not surprised that the Spanish team would reach the final, but given the current situation, the Belgian team might not be able to make it!

…

July 11, St. Petersburg Stadium.

The first semi-final of the 2018 Russia World Cup has begun.

The two teams in this game are the French team wearing blue jerseys and the Belgian team wearing red jerseys.

Another classic red-blue battle!

Although everyone was more optimistic about the French team before the game, it was the Belgian team that took the initiative after the opening.

It was obvious that the Belgian team had done a lot of homework in advance for this game. They were fully prepared for the opponent's attack from the flanks, making the French team's quick counterattack ineffective.

On the other hand, Belgium, thanks to De Bruyne's outstanding performance, launched several threatening attacks in the first half.

But the forwards seemed to have forgotten to bring their shooting boots today, and they spat out the goals that were right in front of them several times.

De Bruyne's outstanding performance aroused the vigilance of the French team. His club teammate Kante was specially arranged by the French coach Deschamps to guard De Bruyne.

Kante's defensive ability is among the best in the world. Even Lin Quan would be in trouble if he was entangled by him, not to mention De Bruyne.

De Bruyne, who was targeted, began to perform poorly and it became difficult for him to complete such high-quality passes.

This caused Belgium's offensive threat to drop sharply, and Hazard, who had declared before the game that he would lead the team to victory, fell into a tough battle in this game.

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He tried to dribble past opponents many times and succeeded a few times, but perhaps he was too anxious to prove himself, or perhaps he didn't see the position of his teammates.

He chose to shoot himself instead of calmly passing the ball to a teammate in a better position, which resulted in his breakthrough being only impressive but not threatening at all.

The first half of the game ended quickly with both sides tied 0:0.

Judging from the field, Belgium had an advantage in terms of the number of dangerous attacks and ball possession, but the opponent's counterattacks posed a greater threat.

Courtois made three great saves in the first half, while France goalkeeper Lori only made one.

This made Belgian fans very worried. As we all know, the French team is a slow-starting team.

Their performance in the first half does not represent their true strength. This team is accustomed to bursting out in the second half, suddenly catching the opponent off guard and killing the game in a short time! This is how Argentina fell to the feet of the French team. Another South American team, Uruguay, also lost to the French team in the same way.

So, don’t think that just because Belgium had the advantage in the first half, it will be the same in the second half.

The situation in the second half is likely to be very unfavorable to them.

"The French team and the Spanish team seem to be two extremes!"

"Yes, the French team has too many young players, and their form has been up and down. It takes time for them to find their form. They seem to be very slow to warm up, but once they find their form, they feel a bit unstoppable!"

"On the other hand, the Spanish team has many veterans, so they may have problems with their physical fitness in the second half, so they are more accustomed to finishing the battle in the first half."

"I really look forward to seeing these two teams meet in the finals. One is slow to warm up, and the other attacks first. Haha, I really don't know who will have the last laugh!"

Although the outcome of this game is still undecided, many fans have already sentenced Belgium to death in their hearts.

After having an advantage in the first half, they missed good opportunities and failed to score. Do they want to stop the French team's attack in the second half? What a pipe dream!

As expected, at the start of the second half, the French team seemed like a different team.

The players seemed to have woken up from a dream, and each of them became energetic and full of fighting spirit.

Belgium's goal was tested continuously and finally couldn't hold on in the 51st minute, when the opponent used a corner kick to head in a header.

This goal caused the situation for Belgium to take a sharp turn for the worse. Now it had become the opponent's offensive turn. They could only fight back and had no time to attack.

On the other hand, after scoring the goal, the French team's offensive became more fierce, with attacks from all positions blooming in multiple places, and various tactics such as positional warfare, mobile warfare, and quick counterattacks made the Belgians unable to take care of themselves.

In the 63rd minute of the second half, Mbappe received a pass from Pogba, quickly attacked along the wing, cut into the penalty area and shot successfully, changing the score to 2:0. Just like a written script, the French team, after waking up, killed the game in just over ten minutes in the second half.

Thirty minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

The favorite to win the championship, France, easily defeated Belgium 2:0 and advanced to the final first.

Their opponent will be the winner between England and Spain.

Seeing the French team beat Belgium so easily, the entire football world was shocked after the game.

Although everyone knew that the French team was strong, no one expected them to be this strong.

So much so that many Belgian fans publicly shouted to the Spanish team after the game: "Spain, are you ready?"

Lin Quan watched the entire game live on TV. To be honest, it was not unfair for the Belgian team to lose.

In this game, they wasted several opportunities that should not have been wasted. The French team was not easy to play against, and they wasted opportunities. How could they win? However, seeing how strong the French team was, Lin Quan himself was a little shocked.

Mbappe seems to be even better than he was two months ago, as if he has suddenly upgraded and evolved.

This kid's ability of long-distance running and cutting inside to shoot has been greatly improved.

If we meet him in the finals in the future, it’s hard to say whether our teammates can withstand his attack.

Moreover, the French team's style of play actually restrained Spain. They were very strong in the second half, while Spain was very weak in the second half.

Facing the invincible French team in the second half, they could not necessarily win even if they scored 2 or even 3 goals in the first half.

What's more troublesome is that the French team's defense is actually not weak, at least much stronger than Lukaku thinks.

The combination of Umtiti and Varane cannot be said to be very strong, but the two make up for each other's shortcomings. One has fast turning speed and is flexible and agile; the other is strong and has strong abilities in frontal defense, physical confrontation and positioning.

Coupled with the fact that the opponent's midfielder has Kante, who is a difficult hurdle to overcome, it is really not an easy task to score a goal against the French team.

Therefore, this final will probably be difficult to play, and Spain's chances of winning against France are probably no more than 50%.

If I hadn't been there, the chances of winning would probably be less than 20%. (End of this chapter)