France reached the World Cup semifinals after a relatively straightforward win over Uruguay courtesy of goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann. Varane opened the scoring on 40 minutes before Griezmann made it 2-0 just after the hour mark following a dreadful error from Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal. Edinson Cavani was only fit enough to start on the bench following the calf injury sustained in the round of 16 win over Portugal and replacement Cristhian Stuani toiled in his absence as Uruguay crashed out. France, winners in 1998, will face either Brazil or Belgium in the semifinals on Tuesday. With Uruguay conceding just one goal in 2018 ahead of this match — to Pepe in their 2-1 win over Portugal — France faced the tough prospect of penetrating a resolute backline but in the end they prevailed, thanks in part to Muslera’s howler.
France now turn their attentions to the last four and Tuesday’s semi in St. Petersburg.