World Cup 2018: France into the final plus Croatia v England buildup – live!

• Updates and reaction following the first semi-final
• World Cup Daily: Destiny calls for England
• Any thoughts? You can email Mike or tweet @mike_hytner

6.57am BST

Time to cast forward now, to today’s second semi-final. A lovely scene-setter from Daniel Taylor in Moscow:

Did you see Dele Alli this week reminiscing about the time he [nutmegged] Luka Modric? Perhaps you thought he sounded a little overconfident to be talking of such a thing. But it was actually quite reassuring, from an English perspective, to be in Alli’s company and see, close-up, how confident he was at a time when this bunch of players, more than ever, need to show they have moved on since the days when Fabio Capello said the England shirt “weighed heavily” on their shoulders.

Related: England ‘excited not nervous’ as they face moment of truth in Moscow | Daniel Taylor

6.47am BST

The focus of Courtois’ ire – rather amusingly his Chelsea teammate Giroud – is coming in for a bit of stick after a fairly anodyne performance – and another game without a goal. That’s over seven hours of play without scoring or, indeed, even a shot on target. The Stéphane Guivarc’h of a new generation.

Olivier Giroud is yet to hit the target with any of his 10 shots at this #WorldCup.

He is the only one of the 84 players to have attempted six or more shots at the tournament and yet to hit the target with a single one. ❌ pic.twitter.com/pW3tz7SI8J

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