Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has reflected on his halftime peptalk that led to France's round of 16 World Cup win against Poland.

A clip of the defender's speech has since made it to the public.

Varane told his team-mates in a subdued dressing room: "We're in the round of 16 of the World Cup, we are living a dream but this dream can end at any time if we continue like this.

"We don't make efforts for each other, we don't work as we should. I'm not aiming this at anyone. I'm thinking of everyone, boys. You have to show something else."

Olivier Giroud has described the moment of motivation as the 'booster shot' which ensured France seized the game. It will be a much-discussed part of the retrospective should they beat Morocco and go on to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1962.

"We were not in the game as much as we could have been," Varane, the vice-captain, reflected on Monday. "Sometimes we might not be as comfortable as we should be and I felt the team needed a bit of a boost.

"I needed to express myself and that is what I did at half-time. If I want to talk, I talk. And that is what is expected."

Varane admits he thought his chances of making the World Cup were over last month when breaking down for Manchester United.

"I thought the injury was more serious than it was in reality. I thought the World Cup was over for me.

"The diagnosis was if I worked hard at my rehab, I could come back and be ready. I suppose the career of a footballer is up and down."