St Petersburg — Eden Hazard and a brilliant Belgian generation stand between France and a place in the World Cup final as the countries bring their historic rivalry to Tuesday’s first semifinal in St Petersburg. Not since 1986 have Belgium made it this far at the World Cup, losing to a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina in Mexico and then going down 4-2 to France in the third-place play-off, the last competitive meeting of the nations. In the years since, France have won one World Cup and one European Championship, and lost the 2006 World Cup final. Now, with Kylian Mbappe their new standard-bearer, they are dreaming again. Belgium disappeared from the forefront of the international scene for years before emerging again with their gifted crop. With Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne, they lost in the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals and at the same stage at Euro 2016, but under Roberto Martinez in Russia they have already taken an extra step after stunning Brazil in the last eight...
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