France vs Belgium: Winners and Losers from the semi-final

Winner- The Goalkeepers

Belgium v France: Semi Final - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

In the quarter-finals, Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois were brilliant as their dominant performances between the sticks helped their teams progress to the quarter-finals. Lloris made one particularly great save from Martin Caceres which would have equalised for Uruguay. Courtois was brilliant throughout as he repelled Brazil on numerous occasions.

Yet, both of these goalkeepers were even better in the semi-finals. At the beginning when Belgium was dominating, Lloris made several great stops to repel the Red Devils, including an outstretched save to prevent Toby Alderweireld from giving Belgium the lead. Courtois matched his French counterpart when he made an exceptional save from Benjamin Pavard’s shot.

Lloris continued his performance after Umtiti’s goal, saving a brilliant Axel Witsel screamer. Courtois also denied Les Blues on the counter on several occasions especially in injury time when he made a brilliant save from substitute Corentin Tolisso. During this World Cup, much of the attention has been on penalty heroics from the likes of Jordan Pickford and Danijel Subasic. Yesterday, Lloris and Courtois showed that they may be the two best goalkeepers at the tournament.