France vs Belgium LIVE World Cup 2018: France into World Cup final - latest reaction from St Petersburg

France and Belgium players post on social media ahead of the semi-final

Past meetings

As you may expect, these sides have met many times over the years. France and Belgium last met in a friendly a year before the 2016 European Championship, Belgium took a 3-0 lead and the game ended 4-3 to the Belgians.

This evening will be their 29th meeting, Belgium have won ten, nine have ended as a draw and France have been victorious on nine occasions.

"He's a genius"

Roberto Martinez is two wins away from being the first foreign manager to win the World Cup and his former colleagues at Everton are not surprised by his achievements with Belgium.

"He reminded me of those wonderful what I call zoot-suited American vocalists, like Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon, Frankie Valli," Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said. "And I christened him Frankie from the first day I met him." 

"He truly is, truly, truly, truly, 24-7. I don't say that thinking, well, he'll take an hour off on Sunday. He won't. He takes no time off at all," Kenwright said. "The World Cup this summer has not been about superstars, but has been about teams and particularly their coaches and their managers. And that's why people like (Martinez) and Gareth Southgate stand out." 

"He's a genius tactically," said American goalkeeper Tim Howard, who spent three seasons with Martinez at Everton. "He always finds a weakness in the opponent. He prepares his teams to break down the opponent. No game is the same — he changes tactics every game." 

The Belgian players take a stroll around St Petersburg. They'll be arriving at the stadium in around a couple of hours, by coach that is - they're not walking there! 

Robot predicts win for Belgium

Using animals to predict the World Cup results was sooo 2014. Instead we have robots who are taking a break from playing connect four and working out who might win.

Designed for industrial purposes, the American-made robot housed in Moscow's Robo Station predicted a few hours before kickoff that France would beat Belgium in Tuesday's semi-final in St Petersburg.

Several of Baxter's competitors, including Achilles the clairvoyant cat and Timon the meerkat, have fallen out of fashion after a false prediction or two, while an octopus in Japan suffered an even worse fate.

Rabio the oracle octopus was boiled and butchered despite correctly predicting all of Japan's group stage matches, and speculation is rife that the country's last-gasp exit in the first knockout round might be mysteriously linked to his demise.

Baxter's handlers, however, think their robot's data-crunching mastery gives him a decided edge over his rivals, who might be motivated more by the treats on offer than any particular love for 'the beautiful game'.

For each prediction, Baxter receives the latest statistics on the teams, including number of goals, ball possession and previous results, before he applies an algorithm to arrive at the winner.

"The statistics are updated after each game and the robot collects his own statistics and according to that, he makes a choice between the two teams," said Sergei Vasilyev, a senior engineer at the Robo Station.

Liew on Pogba

Jonathan Liew takes a detailed look at how Paul Pogba is rising to the occasion at the World Cup as he benefits from a lapse in sole responsibility. 

"The freight of footballing expectation is something France has had to deal with for a while, ever since it became clear that they were in possession of a truly exceptional generation of young footballers. And nobody, perhaps, is more aware of that expectation than Paul Pogba."

How Fellaini and Chadli became unlikely stars and international flag-bearers 

Although it is the WORLD Cup, there is just one continent represented in the final four: Europe. However, despite on the outside France vs Belgium is a very European affair, delve a little deeper and you discover that many cultures are being represented on the world stage.

Belgium have nine players who have one parent born in another country, and Nacer Chadli and Marouane Fellaini have emerged as two unlikely Belgian stars carrying the flag for Africa.

Didier Deschamps vs Roberto Martinez 

When you think of the kind of managers that are about to take their side into a World Cup final, Roberto Martinez and Didier Deschamps are probably not two of the names you would expect to be on the brink of hero status.

Both managers have been accused of not having the tactical nous required to make the most of their ludicrously talented teams, but here they are.

Miguel Delaney took a look at the duo who have much in common but their contrasts are greater, in terms of their playing career and football philosophies.

Chelsea love-in

This afternoon Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtios will come up against teammates Olivier Giroud and N'Golo Kante for a place in the World Cup final and there is no hard feelings between any of the players. 

Eden Hazard

"I play all year with Kante, for me he is the best in the world in his position," said the Chelsea and Belgium man. "When he is at his best and on top, you have a 95 per cent chance to win the game. It's up to us to do whatever it takes to stop him from picking up the ball."

Olivier Giroud

"To stand alongside Eden every day at Chelsea, he is impressive when he is driving with the ball, in his capacity to cut through with the ball," said Olivier, who formed a productive partnership with Hazard for Chelsea in the second half of last season. For me, he is one of the three best players I have ever played with in my whole career."

"Thibaut has an impressive wingspan. It's hard to beat him on the sides. He can stop balls in any area," added the forward. "I have scored a few goals against him in training with Chelsea and I hope I can do it here."

"He is very busy at this World Cup, but we have the qualities to break down the Wall of Courtois. This is a special game for us. There are Belgians who have evolved with us at club level. We don't want to endure jeering from them during pre-season at Chelsea!"

De Bruyne could play anywhere, except in goal

There's worse problems to have than working out where to play Kevin De Bruyne. That's what Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has been toying with this summer. The Belgium and Manchester City attacking midfielder has played a deeper role at times but was at his best against Brazil as part of an attacking front free. In that quarter-final match he played as a false nine and scored with a stunning low shot from outside the box.

"It's essential to have a player like Kevin — that he can play different roles," Martinez said ahead of the semifinal. "Apart from goalkeeper I could tell you that he could not just play, he could perform at the highest level in any position. That's the quality that he has.

"When he plays in that forward role, when he plays a bit more in the final third his play, his performance, is very, very attractive and maybe then it gets a bigger recognition,"

His position on the pitch is not any of his concern and De Bruyne is just focused on creating as many chances for his team as possible. "My role for the team is to create opportunities and to give passes that my forward teammates can use to make the difference," he said.