Ranking France's 5 best players against Belgium | UEFA Nations League semi-final
World champions France went up against the top-ranked team in international football, Belgium, in the second UEFA Nations League semi-final on Thursday night in Turin. Both coaches fielded their strongest XIs, setting the stage for a star-studded, action-packed encounter. France’s Kylian Mbappe and Belgian superstar Kevin De Bruyne were the standout performers in the opening spell, creating multiple scoring opportunities for either side.
But against all odds, it was Yannick Carrasco who struck first. A lucky deflection off Jules Kounde wrong-footed Hugo Lloris and put Belgium ahead. Three minutes later, Lukaku stormed down the right-hand flank and doubled Belgium’s advantage, leaving Theo Hernandez in the dust.
In the second half, Belgium decided to sit back, but the plan quite evidently backfired. Karim Benzema pulled one back in the 62nd minute before Kylian Mbappe dispatched a thumping penalty to level the game at 2-2 seven minutes later.
In the dying minutes of the UEFA Nations League clash, France struck again through Theo Hernandez to complete the turnaround. With only four minutes of injury time to play, the Red Devils failed to get the equalizer, conceding their spot in the final to France.
France’s superstars dug deep to get the unlikely 3-2 win, and here are the five players who stood out. Now further ado, let's check out France’s best performers in their UEFA Nations League win over Belgium on Thursday.
#5 Jules Kounde
Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde got the nod to start alongside Manchester United’s Raphael Varane in the UEFA Nations League semi-final against Belgium. Apart from gifting De Bruyne an unexpected opportunity to open the scoring for Belgium, he did justice to the faith his coach showed in him.
📸 - INCREDIBLE tackle from Koundé to prevent Hazard from scoring! https://t.co/HE9HQ9aUgM
He grew in confidence as the match wore on and did his best to contain the threats of Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard. The former still got on the scoresheet, of course, but Kounde made sure Hazard could not apply the finishing touches despite getting into the box.
#4 Theo Hernandez
They say football is a game of two halves, and no one understands the saying better than Bayern Munich left-back Theo Hernandez. In the first half, Hernandez was dummied by Romelu Lukaku en route to Belgium’s second goal. He lacked confidence and did not do enough to show that he deserved to start in the UEFA Nations League semi-final.
THEO HERNANDEZ WITH THE MATCH WINNER 🤯🔥 https://t.co/e38I95Gj3Z
In the second half, he sprung to life and dominated the left flank. Instead of exploiting the space Theo was leaving behind, Belgium were too busy defending against his venomous crosses. Even then, they failed to contain the attacking threat Theo brought.
With just seconds of normal time remaining, Hernandez picked up the ball just outside the Belgium box. He measured his angle and struck it with considerable force. Thibaut Courtois got a hand to it but it was too firmly struck for him to keep out.