Right after that, the commentator picked back up with the two teams' head-to-head history at the World Cup. "When it comes to these two sides' record against each other at the World Cup, it's steeped in fate.
So far, Brazil and France have met four times in World Cup finals-tournament play.
Of those, France has won twice—one of them was a shootout win after the match finished level in regulation.
Brazil, meanwhile, has taken just a single win.
Judging purely by the head-to-head record, the European powerhouse France holds a clear edge.
The first meeting came in the 1958 World Cup semifinal—the two sides' first-ever clash at a World Cup, and a rout that laid the foundation for the start of Brazil's dynasty.
Back then, a seventeen-year-old Pelé burst onto the scene, scoring a hat-trick in that very match.
His teammate Vavá struck twice, and France's own legend Just Fontaine got one back, but in the end Brazil demolished France 5–2 to advance to the final.
They went on to claim the first World Cup title in their history.
That match was also what made Pelé's name overnight, turning him into a legend of world football.
The second meeting came in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal, a match that stands as a classic showdown between two heavyweights.
Regulation time ended 1–1, the game deadlocked, with Brazil's legendary Zico missing a crucial penalty in normal time that could have won it.
Then, in the penalty shootout, Sócrates missed his spot-kick too.
In the end France came out ahead in the shootout and eliminated Brazil to advance—the first time France had ever beaten Brazil at a World Cup.
The third meeting was the 1998 World Cup final, a match that remains one of the true classics of World Cup history, and the crowning moment in France's own team history.
At the time, France, as hosts, took control of the match on the back of two headed goals from Zidane.
Petit sealed the win with a goal right before the final whistle, and France ultimately beat Brazil 3–0.
They took home the first World Cup title in their history.
It also set the record for the biggest margin of victory in the two sides' World Cup history.
And the sudden pre-match situation involving Brazil's jewel Ronaldo only added to the legend surrounding that final, becoming an unsolved mystery in the hearts of countless fans.
Today Ronaldo is right there in the stands, about to watch Brazil face off against France once again.
And at the same time—he'll also be watching to see whether Julien is about to break his World Cup scoring record.
The Brazilian legend scored 15 goals across his World Cup career, currently tied for first on the all-time World Cup scoring list with Klose and Klose has already been knocked out by France, so there's no chance of him overtaking that mark now.
What's more, whether Klose even gets another World Cup is far from certain.
So now it's actually Julien who's closer than anyone to breaking that record.
Just three goals shy and it might just happen today.
Back to the last of the four meetings between these two sides.
The fourth came in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinal, the most recent time the two have met in World Cup competition.
That day, Henry scored the only goal of the match, and France edged past Brazil 1–0 to advance.
Worth noting is: that Brazil side had Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaká, and a whole cast of stars, a golden generation by any measure and yet they still stopped at the quarterfinals, sent home once again by France in the knockout rounds.
From that 5–2 rout back in 1958 to four straight World Cups in which they simply could not beat France, Brazil has long since lost whatever edge it once held over this opponent.
For Brazil, this semifinal isn't just a fight to reach the final—it's a reckoning decades in the making. They're desperate to break the curse, beat the team that's haunted them for years, and push through to the final."
Having said that much, the commentator sounded almost wistful.
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"But fate doesn't seem to be smiling on the host nation today.
Brazil is facing a crisis like nothing they've dealt with before.
Their star player, Neymar, was injured in a collision with Zúñiga in the quarterfinal—a fractured tailbone that's ruled him out of this semifinal, robbing the side of its sharpest attacking weapon.
Captain Thiago Silva is also unavailable, suspended after picking up too many yellow cards, leaving the back line without its usual voice of command.
Looking at the starting lineup, Dante has stepped in for Silva, paired at centre back with David Luiz.
The two have barely played together before this, and their lack of chemistry makes it hard for them to form a reliable defensive wall.
Neymar's replacement, Bernard, is giving it everything he's got, but he may struggle to fill the hole Neymar's absence leaves behind.
France, by contrast, is close to full strength—missing only midfielder Cabaye, which barely dents the team's overall game plan.
France's star Julien is in hot form right now, just one goal shy of Fontaine's single-tournament World Cup record of 13, and three shy of the all-time World Cup scoring record of 15—he's in the form of his life.
Lloris, Pogba, Kanté, and the rest of the core are all present and accounted for; the team's attack and defence function as a complete system, their execution is sharp, and after a string of matches together, the squad's chemistry has never been better.
On one side, a host nation missing pieces and stripped of both its stars; on the other, a European heavyweight at full strength and firing on all cylinders.
On one side, feverish fans hungry for revenge and desperate to defend home turf; on the other, a France side with its eyes fixed straight on the final and nothing else.
Given all that, it's not hard to imagine the pressure weighing on Brazil in this match…"
Three-fifty in the afternoon.
The roar inside Estádio Mineirão had already reached its peak.
In the players' tunnel, Brazil's players emerged first, in their yellow shirts, stepping out onto the pitch and the whole stadium erupted, the noise was crashing down like a volcano finally letting go!
That wave of fever felt like it was about to swallow the entire stadium whole.
Right behind them, France's players walked out of the tunnel in blue.
French fans cheered, roaring their support for their own side, but it was almost completely drowned out in the tide of noise from the Brazilian crowd.
The broadcast cameras followed the players from both teams the whole way, sweeping slowly across face after face, each wearing a different expression.
The camera cut, right on prompt, to sweep across the stands.
One familiar face after another came into view.
Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaká, Cafu, Henry, Zidane… legend after legend, all were gathered in one place.
Beyond football's own legends, there were figures from every walk of life scattered through the stands too.
The players wa;lked onto the pitch one by one.
They lined up on either side of the centre circle for the pre-match national anthems.
As the melody of the Brazilian national anthem began to swell, captain David Luiz and goalkeeper Júlio César together raised a Brazil jersey bearing Neymar's name and number.
A tribute to the injured Neymar, sidelined from the match.
The moment lit up the crowd instantly.
Brazilian fans in the stands broke into applause, the sound of clapping was weaving together with the anthem, ringing out across the whole of Estádio Mineirão.
A large number of fans wore Neymar masks over their faces, chanting his name at the top of their lungs, in the most heartfelt way they knew how, standing behind their injured star.
And cheering their team on, too.
The French anthem played next, and France's players lifted their hands to their chests as well with solemn expressions.
Julien stood in the lineup, his eyes were calm, the noise around him seem to belong to some other world entirely. There was only one thought in his head—give everything, win this match, push forward toward the final.
Afterward, Julien and David Luiz took part in the coin toss.
Everything moved forward, step by step, exactly as it should.
Around then, the commentator began running through both sides' starting lineups.
"Brazil is sticking with a 4-2-3-1, and Scolari doesn't have much room to shuffle things around—in goal, César.
Across the back line: Maicon, Dante, David Luiz, Marcelo;
Holding midfield: Gustavo, Fernandinho;
In midfield: Hulk, Oscar, Bernard;
And leading the line alone up front, Fred…"
After running through Brazil's side, the commentator moved on to France's starting eleven as well.
"On the French side, it's also a 4-2-3-1 under Deschamps. Up top is Giroud, with the three just behind him being Griezmann, Julien, and Matuidi; behind them, Pogba and Kanté; and at the back, Evra, Sakho, Varane, Debuchy; in goal, Lloris…"
After a short time—
Whistle blasted!!!
At the sound of the referee's whistle out on the pitch, the commentator's voice rose with excitement too. "This much-anticipated semifinal is officially underway!!"
Kick-off belongs to Brazil.
Fred tapped the ball straight back to Oscar behind him, and the noise inside Estádio Mineirão instantly hit a fever pitch.
The sea of yellow surged into a frenzy, fans were screaming with everything they had for a goal!
Trying to use the sheer weight of home advantage to crush France.
Both sides settled into the match fast.
Brazil, clearly buoyed by playing at home, came out playing with strong drive and purpose!
In the 1st minute, Brazil surged forward first with an early attack.
Oscar took the ball on the right, but Evra stuck tight to him and he couldn't find a way through, so he laid it off promptly to Maicon, who was pushing up.
Maicon drove forward fast down the flank and whipped in a cross, but Matuidi cut it out, and the ball went out for a corner.
Brazil won the match's first corner.
And that corner sent the entire stadium of Brazilian fans into a frenzy; seeing an attack like that in the first minute, they felt like there was strong hope here.
The Brazilian fans let out roar after roar.
Oscar jogged quickly to the corner flag, took a breath to settle himself, then swung the corner toward the near post.
Gustavo surged forward, throwing himself at it. But Sakho got there first, heading it clear out of the box, and Brazil's first attack came to nothing.
Barely a minute later, Brazil went on the attack again.
Marcelo picked up a pass from Fernandinho on the left, shrugged off Debuchy's challenge, and drove forward fast down the flank.
Seeing no way through France's defense, he sent it to Hulk, who'd come up to support. Hulk took a touch just outside the box and curled a shot on the turn, the ball bending along a clean arc and clipping the outside of the right post before drifting wide.
Whoosh!
A groan went up from the Brazilian fans in the stands, and then, just as quickly, they were back to chanting for their team.
Scolari's brow furrowed.
As long as there was no goal on the board, he couldn't quite settle.
Deschamps, meanwhile, had seen this coming—a home Brazil side was always going to come out swinging so he kept telling his players to hold their defensive shape.
And to press hard up front too, hunting for chances on the counter!
But for now, the ball still mostly stayed with Brazil.
In the 3rd minute, Hulk again picked up a cross from Marcelo near the byline on the left, his back to goal, shielding the ball with his body before spinning and flicking a right-footed lob toward the front of the goal, a dangerous half-height ball.
The ball looked like it was about to drop right at Fred's feet.
Lloris reacted in a flash, rushing off his line without hesitation and getting to the ball cleanly, just in front of Fred.
He quickly threw it out to Kanté, launching France's first fast break.
Kanté carried the ball forward, probing through midfield for Julien's run, but Gustavo read it and stepped in to cut it out, snuffing out the break.
The moment he lost the ball, Kanté reached a hand toward Julien, apologizing.
He was still a little tense and hadn't quite relaxed into it yet.
Julien gave a small nod—a pass not making it through like that wasn't unusual at all, and Kanté simply didn't yet have that kind of forward-passing range.
Still needed work in that part of his game!
After that, the pace of the match steadily picked up, both sides trading attack for attack, and France gradually found their footing and began pushing forward on their own terms.
In the 7th minute, Julien picked up a pass from Pogba through the middle, and with both Gustavo and Fernandinho closing him down, he didn't panic at all, chopping direction again and again at his feet.
But the two of them stuck to him closely.
They'd faced plenty of Brazilian players before, and they knew exactly how to defend against a dribbler this good.
Julien didn't try to shake them off right away.
Then, faking a run through the middle, Julien calmly switched the ball out to the right without hesitation.
Debuchy surged forward to meet it, took the ball, and drove hard down the flank, cutting it back near the byline to find Matuidi at the back post.
Matuidi met the ball and cushioned it gently with his chest, and before it could even hit the ground—it looked like he was about to shoot straight off it!
In reality, César had already come off his line to close down the angle, leaving barely any shooting lane, so Matuidi squared it across the goal instead!
Giroud surged forward to meet the ball and got his foot up to shoot.
César had already been taken out of the play.
It was practically an open goal!
And yet, Giroud's shot came in at too straight an angle, unluckily, and the ball cannoned hard off Dante and bounced clear of the box.
France's first genuinely dangerous attack, sadly, failed to find the net.
Giroud smacked his thigh in frustration, and Julien jogged over quickly, giving him a pat on the shoulder, telling him without words not to let it rattle him, to keep the momentum going forward.
On the sideline, Deschamps had his head in his hands too.
That kind of chance was wasted!
The commentator almost shouted, "My goodness, that's the best chance either side has had since kick-off! And Giroud couldn't put it away! That was practically an open goal!"
Right then, the Brazilian fans inside Estádio Mineirão were still roaring at full volume, trying to disrupt France's rhythm on the attack.
But France's play kept getting better and better.
If anything, it was Brazil's own gaps from pushing so many men forward that France kept exploiting instead!
In the 11th minute, France won their first corner of the match!
As Matuidi tried to force his way through on the left, Maicon slid in and knocked the ball out for a corner.
Pogba walked briskly over to the corner flag, took the ball, and scanned Brazil's penalty area, tracking his teammates' runs.
Dante and David Luiz stood guard inside the box, tracking Giroud and Julien closely.
Whistle!
With the referee signalling the corner could be taken…
Thwack!
Pogba struck the corner hard, and the ball carved a perfect arc through the air.
And right as that ball came in—Julien showed off some remarkable movement, refusing to stay bunched up in the middle; instead, with a sudden shift sideways, he shook off every defender marking him and slipped in unmarked at the back post!
As the ball sailed over the middle of the box, nobody got a touch on it.
And at the very same moment, almost entirely unmarked, Julien, right there on the edge of the six-yard box at the back post, gently touched it home with his right foot—the distance was so short that César had no time to react at all.
Brazil suffered a fatal lapse in marking!
Whoosh!
The ball crossed the line!
1–0!
France strikes first, breaking the deadlock!
________________________________________________________
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