The last time Belgium reached a World Cup semi-final, back in 1986, only Vincent Kompany of their current 23-man squad was born.

Argentina defeated the Red Devils 2-0 courtesy of a Diego Maradona brace, and 32 years later, they will look to avoid a similar fate against France. Four years ago in Brazil, the highly-touted Belgian squad lost to the Albiceleste 1-0 in the quarter-finals, limping out rather meekly.

If the squad was deemed too young to compete in 2014, then Euro 2016 was surely a full-blown choke, as they lost to a Welsh team that didn’t make it to Russia.

When they defeated Brazil 2-1 in the 2018 World Cup quarter-finals, Belgian football would have rejoiced. It was memorable in more ways than one.

Roberto Martinez came out and spoke about the belief coursing through the team’s veins in the aftermath of the victory over the five-time champions. Although they had been threatening to upset the world order for years, this was the moment that Belgium had truly arrived.

Of course, it wasn’t pretty. Brazil bombarded them in the first 10 minutes, in what is a clear indication to France that this Belgian side can be rattled. Thibaut Courtois and his defence were having none of it though. Barring the Renato Augusto goal, the Selecao could not breach the Belgian backline.

Add the two goals that Japan scored against them, France might just have the edge in this regard. They have a goalkeeper of their own in fine form. Hugo Lloris produced a worldly save in keeping Martin Caceres out and preserving his side’s lead against Uruguay. The French skipper is leading from the front (and from the back), and has an ever-improving backline in front of him.

Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez have grown as the tournament has worn on, but the real heroes have been Raphael Varane and Sam Umtiti. The Real Madrid-Barcelona duo have held tight when called upon, and produced a real masterclass in keeping Luis Suarez and Uruguay quiet. Varane scored his side’s first goal as well in the quarter-finals. These are encouraging signs for Didier Deschamps in defence.

“I told Antoine to do a little feint and then stick the ball right on the penalty spot. It was something we’d worked on in training,” Varane would later say about the goal. In fact, Antoine Griezmann served a timely reminder of why he was so pivotal to this French team with a virtuoso display against Uruguay.

Along with Kylian Mbappe, France should have enough firepower to trouble the three-man Belgium defence. Martinez is not a man known for his defensive organisation but France will make him think twice and maybe thrice.

The pace of Mbappe has to be dealt with; Diego Laxalt did an excellent job but he had the pace to match. To ask Vertonghen on the left to deal with Mbappe alone might be a false move, a two-man team might work better on the teenage French forward. Axel Witsel could assist the Tottenham defender in this regard.

Belgium’s fire-power is to be feared as well. An attacking trio of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard could take apart any defence in the world. Their form, especially Hazard’s, will have Deschamps thinking of possible cover for Pavard.

France’s most important player could then be N’golo Kante. Deschamps, a former defensive midfielder himself, has set up this French team playing a pragmatic style and Kante in the living embodiment of this style.

Blaise Matuidi should return from suspension on the left, hoping to neutralise big Rom. But on the right, Kante could be the man tasked with shackling club-mate Hazard. With Belgium’s front three likely to come under intense scrutiny, the man to break the shackles could be Nacer Chadli.

Chadli didn’t start the tournament but has been pivotal to this Belgian team. His off-the-ball movement and stretching of Belgium’s play could just be what Martinez has in mind. An interesting switch from Martinez could involve Belgium stopping Paul Pogba and Kante, their deepest lying midfielders.

Tactically, the permutations-combinations are endless given the abundance of talent at the disposal of both coaches. France and Belgium are evenly matched in a lot of departments and it could come down to which side plays better to stop the other.

In a World Cup which has not exactly witnessed the most free-flowing of games, France hold the edge in this regard with Belgium preferring to play an expansive style. All said and done, this has the ingredients for a modern classic and could decide the winner of the 2018 World Cup.