Uruguay take on France today in the first quarterfinal fixture of the World Cup at Nizhny Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia in a tie billed as “clash of teammates.”
Antoine Griezmann and Lucas Hernandez lock horns with Atletico Madrid teammates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, while Paris Sait-Germain strike partners Edinson Cavani and Kylan Mbappe also cross swords.
Both teams are unbeaten heading into this clash of former champions.
While Uruguay have won all their games and have conceded just one goal so far, Les Bleus knocked out Argentina in a spectacular Round of 16.
France will look to the finishing skills of their forwards to extend their nine-match unbeaten run against South American sides at the World Cup, while Uruguayan belief will be buoyed by another revealing stat: on the six previous occasions La Celeste reached the last eight at the World Cup finals, only once did they fail to progress.
Did you know?
Aside from drawing comparisons with Pele’s performances at Sweden 1958 following his outstanding display against Argentina, Kylian Mbappe now stands second on France’s all-time list of top scorers at a single World Cup with three goals.
He has some way to go to catch the man at the top of the tree: Just Fontaine, who helped himself to 13 goals in Sweden 60 years ago.
The match will kick-off at 5:00 PM Kenyan time.
Prediction: Uruguay 0-1 France.
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