Five things we've learned: France V Belgium
France booked themselves a place in their third FIFA World Cup final with a disciplined and convincing 1-0 victory over Belgium in Saint Petersburg.
Here are five things we learned from an engrossing and tense semi-final...
DEFENCE STILL MATTERS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
This has been one of the most entertaining FIFA World Cups in recent memory in part because, remarkably, we have still only seen one goalless game in Russia.
France and Denmark were the culprits in Moscow last month and, for all their attacking firepower, Didier Deschamps' men have put themselves in position to win a third FIFA World Cup thanks to their formidable defence.
Belgium had their chances against Hugo Lloris at 0-0 but never looked likely to break through once Samuel Umtiti gave France the lead, with the Barcelona man and centre-back partner Raphael Varane unerring in their concentration and heroic in their commitment at the back.
France have kept four clean sheets in this tournament, more than any other team. One more will likely make them world champions.
SET-PIECES ARE DEFINING THIS TOURNAMENT
Umtiti's decisive header against Belgium was the 158th goal scored at this FIFA World Cup. Incredibly, 69 of them - or 44 percent - have come from set-pieces.
Intricate corner and free-kick routines have powered England's surprise run to the semi-finals and, on this evidence, France are pretty good at dead-ball situations too.
Gone are the days when set-piece prowess was considered the realm of uncultured, un-sophisticated teams. Now they are at the forefront of tournament success.
GRIEZMANN, NOT MBAPPE, REMAINS FRANCE'S KEY MAN
Kylian Mbappe has been the most memorable attacking performer at this FIFA World Cup, dazzling with his pace, skill and clinical finishing.
But he still flits in and out of matches, a player of moments and, given that he is only 19, not always decisive ones. For those contributions, France still look to Antoine Griezmann.
Atletico Madrid's superstar attacker has been directly involved in 20 goals in his last 20 competitive games for France (12 goals, eight assists), as well as 13 of his country's last 20 scored in major tournaments (nine goals, four assists).
It was no surprise when he was the one to whip in the corner from which Umtiti scored.
BELGIUM LOST, BUT ARE GOING NOWHERE
Belgium came into this FIFA World Cup with the longest unbeaten streak of any team, and added Brazil to their impressive list of scalps en route to the semi-finals in Russia.
France's narrow victory was Belgium's first loss in any game since September 2016, when they were beaten in a friendly by Spain.
They have proved they deserve to be included among the world's elite and many of their key players - most notably Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne - are young enough to carry Belgium into the next two international tournaments with real hope.
This defeat will sting for a long time, but Belgium will have more opportunities.
OLIVIER GIROUD HAS BECOME THE NEW STEPHANE GUIVARC'H
France won the 1998 FIFA World Cup without a dominant striker. Stephane Guivarc'h, the man who started up front for them against Brazil in the final, performed a selfless shift without scoring and Olivier Giroud appears to be on a similar path at the head of the 2018 team.
He is still waiting to record his first shot on target in Russia, despite firing six efforts in the general direction of Thibaut Courtois' goal against Belgium. A couple of the misses were gilt-edged, but France don't need their No9 to score to win this tournament.
Giroud combines all of the grunt work expected of a target man with the intelligence to know how to make those around him better. When those around him happen to be as good as Griezmann and Mbappe, it's clear his value to the team extends well beyond goals.