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Martinez's team face the 1998 World Cup winners
in St Petersburg on Tuesday for a place in the final, marking
the first time Belgium have reached this stage of the World Cup
since 1986, when they finished fourth.
"The players have been working together extraordinarily well for
many years, and they deserve to be exactly where they are
today," Martinez told ESPN FC.
"I feel that the most important aspect we worked on was the
notion of being a team. Individual skills and talent are
important, but in these tournaments, it's absolutely necessary
to play as a team.
"It's a trip into the unknown. We've never been in such a
situation, and that's why we need our team spirit more than ever
against France. We need to be the best version of ourselves."
The coach sees strong similarities between Belgium and their
opponents, especially when it comes to the wealth of individual
talent in their ranks.
Belgium can call upon the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard
and Kevin De Bruyne, while Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe
have shone for France in Russia.
Mbappe was lethal in France's 4-3 Round of 16 win over
Argentina, using his pace to devastating effect, but Martinez
said his side would not make the mistake of focusing solely on
one player.
"Both (teams) have the right mix of youth and experience and
also lots of individual talent," he added.
"We will need to anticipate (Mbappe) and be well-positioned. We
need to defend spaces more than the player himself. But we are
not going to forget the others since France has a very complete
attacking pattern.
"This group of players needs to play without fear to keep all of
its options open. It's like a voyage to the moon: We need to
face it full of illusions."
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in St Petersburg; Editing by John
O'Brien)
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