[Wizard.]

Thibaut Courtois has accused France of being an “anti-football team” following Belgium’s 1-0 World Cup semi-final loss to Les Blues in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

Samuel Umtiti’s second-half header was the difference in a tightly-fought contest but one in which Belgium had the bulk of possession (64%) and France mainly looked to counter-attack. It proved an effective approach but one that has drawn criticism from Belgium’s goalkeeper Courtois as well as captain Eden Hazard.

“France heads a corner and does nothing more than defend,” Courtois was quoted as saying by Sporza. “I would have preferred to have lost in the quarter-finals to Brazil, at least that was a team that wanted to play football. [France] are just an anti-football team.”

Quoted by Het Nieuwsblad, Hazard said: “I prefer to lose with this Belgium than win with this France. But they do defend strongly and are very efficient. We have not found their weak point. That little moment of magic needed to score was not there.”

Belgium created early chances but were stymied by France’s miserly defence and undone after Umtiti rose above Marouane Fellaini on 51 minutes to redirect Antoine Griezmann’s corner past Courtois.

France are now looking to win the World Cup for a second time while Belgium missed out on a chance to play in their first ever tournament final. Nevertheless, Hazard remains proud of his team’s achievements in Russia.

“We have seen a fantastic Belgian team and have been eliminated by a team that was more solid than us,” the Chelsea forward told Het Nieuwsblad. “We can be proud of what we have achieved. As a captain, I am happy to be part of this team.”

Source

[Nicky91]

so true, Belgium were robbed of a place in the final against that weak pathetic football from france

[Vladimir]

They were my favourites, but Belgium also played anti-football in the second half against Brazil.

[bots]

The french goalkeeper also didn't play fairly, he saved too many shots

[Denver]

Didnt he slag Pickford off for being a bad keeper yet his next game he made so many mistakes?

[smudgie]

He needs to drink a good French wine instead of all those sour grapes.
They lost, fair and square.

[Calderyon]

Tbf France played they felt needed to play to win. Not pretty, but effective.

Only think i was very annoyed was Mbappes dirty time killing tactics that he even got a yellow card.

[Nicky91]

Originally Posted by Calderyon

Tbf France played they felt needed to play to win. Not pretty, but effective.

Only think i was very annoyed was Mbappes dirty time killing tactics that he even got a yellow card.

i thought Mbappe didn't play that well, if he's worth 150 million he should play amazing every match, which last night clearly wasn't one of his best moments

and Giroud omg, what a weak attacker who can't score goals Guivac'h 2.0 confirmed then

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by Calderyon

Tbf France played they felt needed to play to win. Not pretty, but effective.

Only think i was very annoyed was Mbappes dirty time killing tactics that he even got a yellow card.

He's still young and immature. But France as a team is great.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Adam.

Didnt he slag Pickford off for being a bad keeper yet his next game he made so many mistakes?

He said Pickford was too small...

[Crimson Dynamo]

still, at least he is bitter

[bots]

Originally Posted by Cherie

He said Pickford was too small...

yeah, he isn't very tall either

[Mystic Mock]

I don't like France's tactics very much either, I've made no secret of that on here as you all know.

However I do feel that Belgium were good enough to stop their “anti-Football” approach yet they didn't, personally I think that the Belgium players were tired last night and maybe should've done some rotation after the Brazil game.

[Calderyon]

I am surprised at how tired they are gathering how many rest days they all get between knock out matches.

[bots]

Originally Posted by Calderyon

I am surprised at how tired they are gathering how many rest days they all get between knock out matches.

yeah, i think come the second half of tonights game, it will show on Croatia

[Shaun]

knew I wanted Belgium to lose for a reason