- Latest news from the Belgium, France, England and Croatia camps
- World Cup power rankings: Brilliant Belgium go top before semis
- Mbappé’s boldness will be crucial for France against Belgium
- And feel free to email Richard or tweet @rrjparkin
Another who knows a little about France’s 1998 victory is Marcel Desailly (aka “the original Harry Maguire forehead”) and what a treat it is having him on board as a Guardian columnist for this World Cup.
Not surprisingly, he identifies the pace of Mbappé as a key factor in today’s match:
Related: Kylian Mbappé’s boldness will be crucial for France against Belgium | Marcel Desailly
A subplot that fascinates me ahead of today’s match is the “Thierry Henry dilemma” – whereby one of the all-time great French players accidentally ends up amid the coaching staff of a team looking to prevent the 1998 World Cup winner’s own country of making another final.
Kristof Terreur unpacks this for us a little more:
Related: Thierry Henry happy to stay in the shadows in Belgium’s cause | Kristof Terreur
Written by Richard Parkin (now) and Scott Murray (later)
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2018/jul/10/world-cup-2018-buildup-to-france-belgium-plus-england-latest-live under the title “World Cup 2018: buildup to France v Belgium, plus England latest – live!”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
