*By Christian Smith*
In a World Cup filled with exciting comebacks and a record-breaking number of matches decided by penalty kicks, all it took for France to best a high-scoring Belgian team was a single goal.
Center back Samuel Umtiti put France on the board in the 51st minute with a header off of a corner, and the team managed to hold that narrow lead for the last 40 minutes and change.
Statistically speaking, France had Belgium's number when it came to taking shots for most of the game. *Les Bleus* fired off 16 shots to Belgium's 9, which is consistent with the team's shot count throughout the tournament. That evenness is why France is the team to beat in the mind of Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of the World Cup newsletter "The Banter."
"Even when things don't exactly go *Les Bleus*' way, these young hardworking players get impressive results," Marcus said in Tuesday's [edition of "The Banter."](https://mailchi.mp/e3c3e7abc46e/world-cup-banter-dont-believe-everything-you-hear-again)
Belgium was plagued by fouls throughout the match, racking up 16, including three yellow cards. France on the other hand ended the game with just six fouls and two yellow cards.
Croatia takes on England in the tournament's second semifinal match Wednesday at 2 pm ET. The winner will challenge France in Sunday's final.
The loser of that match will battle Belgium for third place in the consolation match Saturday.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/previewing-the-france-vs-belgium-semifinal-match)
Paul Kermizian, co-founder of the popular Barcade, says vintage games are like a "work of art." The arcade/bar combines 80s games, like Street Fighter and Pacman, with craft beer.
The gold medal-winning swimmer says she could only talk about the issue because she stands on the shoulders of Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, who took the lead in breaking the silence.
The five-time gold medal-winning swimmer is already preparing for the next Summer Games. She trains for up to four hours in the pool every day and has to watch everything she eats, she told Cheddar Thursday.
The one-time Olympic gold medalist, who made history taking home a medal at this year's Games, told Cheddar that there's probably no way her body can "withstand another four years."
When former ESPN President John Skipper resigned in December, shockwaves rippled throughout the sports network. The Hollywood Reporter's James Andrew Miller broke details of the alleged cocaine extortion plot behind the scenes and joined Cheddar to discuss the channel's uncertain future.
One of Nike's top executives is stepping down over misconduct allegations. Airbnb is making it easier for people with disabilities to find rentals on its platform. We dive into the Theranos fraud scandal with the Wall Street Journal reporter who initially reported that something was off with the start-up blood testing company. And Tim Stenovec chats with Neil Patrick Harris about season two of his Netflix show "A Series of Unfortunate Events."
The Olympic gold medallist told Cheddar that, despite reports that the Winter Games had record low ratings, NBC was happy with the results. He said viewers have just changed how they access sports.
The fantasy sports platform is already building out a product that would allow sports betting, pending a decision from the Supreme Court, says DraftKings CEO Jason Robins.
Rex Tillerson is out as Secretary of State and CIA director Mike Pompeo is in. President Trump issued an executive order blocking Broadcom's hostile takeover bid for rival chipmaker Qualcomm. Olympic gold medalist and author Scott Hamilton joins us to talk about his figure skating career and his new book. Plus, Kristen Scholer sits down with Brooklyn Decker and Whitney Casey at SXSW to talk about their start-up Finery.
There is big money in college hoops. Jordan Schultz, Sports Analyst at Yahoo Sports, was with us to discuss the business of the NCAA.
