Football News | Giroud's gorgeous journey continues

Olivier Giroud continued his superb World Cup run with France's late winner in the quarter-final against England and admitted the defending champions' fighting display against adversity evokes the winning spirit of their 2018 campaign .

France are now just two games away from becoming the first side to defend the trophy in 60 years after Olivier Giroud's fourth goal beat an impressive England side in a big win at the Albert Stadium .

Giroud later said the match reminded him of his side's semi-final in Russia four years ago, when they beat Belgium 1-0 in St Petersburg before beating Croatia and lifting the trophy.

" This game reminded me of Belgium in 2018, although it was different because England came back and believed in their chances and pushed forward, " said Giroud.

" We've shown great spirit and worked hard for each other. It's the same spirit as in 2018 and I hope we can go as far as we can because this group is capable of great things. "

main player again

Giroud was a non-scoring member of the squad in 2018 but the 36- year-old is enjoying a memorable campaign in Qatar, having earlier surpassed Thierry Henry as France's all-time top scorer .

This time around, he took full advantage of Benzema's injury ahead of the start of the World Cup to start again as France put a disappointing European Championship - a round of 16 penalty defeat to Switzerland - firmly behind them.

Their performance in Qatar also contrasted with the trend in recent World Cups , with Italy, Spain and Germany eliminated in the first round of the past three tournaments.

" The defending champions have had a pretty bad record of late so we're delighted to turn that trend around, " said coach Didier Deschamps, whose side are now well-placed to beat Morocco in the semi-finals.

If France do make it all the way to next Sunday's final in Doha and win the title, they will become the first side to successfully defend their title since Brazil in 1962 .

" We're getting closer, but now we have a very important next step, against Morocco on Wednesday. We can be happy with what we've done without having to settle for it," Deschamps added .