France World Cup Final to be on giant screen in Paris

Anne Hidalgo confirmed the Champs de Mars screening of Sunday’s Final, after France beat Belgium 1-0 in Saint Petersburg to win through to the showdown, which will be against England or Croatia. They play tonight and the match will be shown live on French channel TF1 from 19.50. BBC 5 Live has full English commentary on the game.

After the first half ended 0-0 last night France finished the game on top after Samuel Umtiti scored the match’s only goal with a header from a corner in the 51st minute.

Ms Hidalgo encouraged would-be spectators to attend the Champ de Mars screening.

Paris has already installed a big screen in front of the Hôtel de Ville - on which Ms Hidalgo watched the France-Belgium game - but the mayor explained that the Champs de Mars setting would be far larger.

She said: “Come to Paris for the final, it will be on the Champs de Mars, where there will be far more people. There will be much more space.”

Fans in Paris were luckier than those watching the game on a special giant screen in Nice city centre... as the screen went black for about 15 minutes just a few minutes before half-time.

In the capital last night, thousands of people lined the Champs-Elysées in Paris to celebrate France’s World Cup win, with the celebrations reaching long into the night throughout the city.

Ms Hidalgo also thanked the city’s authorities for helping set up the big screens, and the police and gendarmerie for securing spectators’ safety throughout.

This is the first time that France has made it to a World Cup Final since 2006 and it won the trophy in 1998. Then Les Bleus' captain was midfielder Didier Deschamps, who is today's team manager.

If France win on Sunday he would become only the third man in history to win the trophy as both player and manager, following Brazil's Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer.