Eden Hazard, who hails from the Belgian town of Braine-le Comte but moved to France aged 14 to play for Lille.

Hazard is one of three footballing brothers, and there was delight on French social media when a picture was unearthed of the trio as children in France football strips. paying homage to World Cup-winning striker Zinedine Zidane. Thorgan Hazard, Eden’s brother, is also in the Belgium team.

Justifying his childhood transgression, Eden Hazard said that they had grown up with the 1998 World Cup and at that time there were no Belgium shirts – it was all about Les Bleus.

The French, on the other hand, have Benjamin Pavard, hero of the last-16 game against Argentina. He grew up in the French town of Jeumont, which nestles on the border with Belgium.