Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Liveupdated

Belgium vs France LIVE: Nations League semi-final result, final score and reaction tonight

Les Bleus grabbed victory with the 90th minute strike from Theo Hernandez

Michael Jones
Thursday 07 October 2021 17:01 EDT
Comments
Theo Hernandez celebrates with Karim Benzema
Theo Hernandez celebrates with Karim Benzema (Reuters)

World champions France recovered from two goals down to beat Belgium 3-2 in a thrilling Nations League semi-final on Thursday with a last minute strike from Theo Hernandez securing a place in Sunday’s showpiece match against Spain.

In a crazy end to the game Belgium thought they had won it minutes earlier but Romelu Lukaku’s late effort was ruled out for offside by VAR.

Yannick Carrasco fired Belgium ahead in the 37th minute and three minutes later Lukaku doubled the lead with a superbly taken goal.

Karim Benzema got France back into the game in the 62nd minute before Kylian Mbappe equalised with a penalty.

France were on top and searching for the winner but three minutes from the end of normal time Lukaku looked to have won the game for Belgium after connecting with a cross from Carrasco only for the effort to be annulled.

France midfielder Paul Pogba then hit the top of the post with a superb curling free-kick before Les Bleus grabbed victory with the 90th minute strike from Hernandez. Follow all the reaction from the game below.

Belgium vs France

Belgium face France tonight in the semi-finals of the second season of the Uefa Nations League.

It’s the first meeting of the team since the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, where France edged a tight match 1-0 thanks to Samuel Umtiti’s header in St Petersburg.

Didier Deschamps’ side went on the win the World Cup for the second time but struggled in the recent European Championships, where they were eliminated in the last 16 by Switzerland on penalties.

Belgium remain the world’s top-ranked side and are aiming to win the first piece of silverware of their ‘golden generation’. Roberto Martinez’s side were beaten by eventual champions Italy at the quarter-final stage of the Euros this summer.

Lawrence Ostlere7 October 2021 18:15

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in