Hummels sends Germany past flagging France

Mats Hummels celebrates what turned out to be the only goal v France

It was a battle of the European big boys and as Alex Johnson reports, it was Germany who came out on top in the opening World Cup Quarter Final.

Germany secured their progression to a fourth World Cup semi-final in a row thanks to a first-half header from defender Mats Hummels.

The Borussia Dortmund centre-back was preferred to Per Mertesacker by Joachim Low and he was the star of the show as Germany efficiently rose to the challenge put to them by France to ensure their passage to the final four.

Germany made a good start but it was France who had the first sight of goal when Karim Benzema fired a volley wide of the target inside the box when he should have really done better.

But the Germans took a stranglehold on the game in the 13th minute when Hummels got what turned out to be the only goal of the game. Toni Kroos whipped a dangerous free kick into the France penalty area and the Borussia Dortmund ace rose above Raphael Varane to glance a header into the top corner of the net off the underside of the bar.

Miroslav Klose wanted a penalty for Germany on 24 minutes when he went down under pressure from Mathieu Debuchy. Though it did look like the France defender had a handful of Klose's shirt, the theatrical way in which the striker went to ground did him no favours and seemed to make up the referee's mind.

All in all, the first half was an enthralling tactical battle but lacked the goalmouth action to really spring the fans into life. France were kept out by Manuel Neuer when Mathieu Valbuena chested down the ball in the box and hit a low shot that was blocked by the Germany keeper before Hummels blocked Benzema's close range rebound.

France enjoyed the better of the opening stages of the second half. Raphael Varane saw his header saved by the in-form Germany keeper as Les Bleus enjoyed more and more possession and began to turn the screw on Germany. But for all France's possession they struggled to really penetrate a well-organised and efficient defence, led by that man Hummels.

When Benzema brought the ball down in the box and dummied to create space it look like he was going to get the equaliser, but it was the heroic Hummels who got in a fantastic last-gasp block to deny the France striker and keep his side in the lead.

The French kept upping the pressure but had trouble creating any real clear-cut chances and, while they pressed up field, it was Germany who were enjoying the better opportunities on the break.

On 82 minutes they really should have wrapped the game up as Thomas Muller found Mesut Ozil down the left and the ball was pulled back to Andre Schurrle - who had acres of time and space in the France box. However, the Chelsea man was far too casual about things and saw his effort saved by the legs of Hugo Lloris.

When Schurrle had another chance on the break five minutes later, he really should have done better than smash his shot straight into Varane.

France continued to plug away as the match rolled into injury time and their last chance fell to Benzema, but he saw his shot from a tight angle in the box pushed away by Neuer.

Overall Germany dominated the midfield, particularly in the first half, and although they perhaps were not at their best, a thoroughly professional performance earned them a semi-final slot. France will look back at how they could have got something out of the game, but in the end their inexperienced side just fell a little short.