He’s doing for France what he did for Leicester City, except all of that work is now in the shadow of an excellent attacking unit.

The figures are 23.6kms and 17.3kms when France had the ball. Kante covered 27.4kms when his team was not in possession as compared with the 20.1kms covered by Pogba. Neither though will deny that not having to look over their shoulders is why they have been so effective because they know and trust their midfield partners to sweep into space or snuff a counter that will happen more often than not. Croatia’s Luka Modric has at the age of 32 found an adoring global audience with people asking the question ‘is he the best in the world?’. For France, Paul Pogba has started to show just why fans put up with the changing hairstyles.

It’ll be a key battle in the final as well. His battle prowess, a combination of wit and will, could When Roberto Martinez started Alex Witsel and Marouane Fellaini (the two giants outdone quietly by Kante, also 5’6”) as Belgium played France, Radja Nainggolan must have felt the pain more than anyone.

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