FIFA World Cup 2018, Uruguay vs France Match Preview: Defensive wall up against attacking force

The FIFA World Cup 2018 is up and running with full flow and with lots of ups and downs for many teams. The football lovers have witnessed giants of the game crash out during the initial stages of the tournament with many brilliant performances during its course till now.

Quarterfinals are the stage of the competition where big nations collide to knock their opponents out and qualify to the final stages of the event, and in a clash of giants Uruguay face France before another heavyweight clash between Brazil and Belgium for a place in the semi-finals.

The 2018 World Cup quarter-finals are set to get off to a thrilling start when Uruguay and France meet in the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. The Euro 2016 finalists have the opportunity to reach the semi-finals of this competition for the first time since 1998.

After two straight wins against Australia (2-1) and Peru (1-0), the French were held to a goalless draw by Denmark, finishing top of Group C and conceding just once. In the round-of-16, French coach Didier Deschamps led his men to a hard-fought and exciting 4-3 win over Argentina and secured a spot in the quarter-finals.

The Uruguayans finished top of Group A, after three straight wins - without conceding a single goal.

Defeating Portugal 2-1 in their round-of-16 game, thanks to a brace by Edinson Cavani, Oscar Tabarez’s men are one win away from getting Uruguay to the WC semi-finals for the second time in three WC tournaments.

The Uruguayan’s have surprised everyone with their gritty nature and unwavering will to win and with Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez forming a cement of a defensive duo around Fernando Muslera’s goal, the La Celeste are very much secured at the back.

In eight previous meetings with Uruguay in all competitions, France have a poor record that currently stands at Win 1, Draw 4, Loss 3, and have a negative H2H goal difference of minus four (GF4, GA8).

Players to watch: Scoring two goals against Argentina, 19-year-old French striker Kylian Mbappé became the youngest player to score a brace in a WC game since Pele and he will go head to head with PSG teammate Edinson Cavani, who has three goals in this competition so far.

Stat attack: Six out of the sides’ eight encounters have produced less than 2.5 goals (each).

France have never won a single World Cup game against Uruguay (D2, L1), scoring only one goal in the process. While the South Americans are on a run of seven straight wins in all competitions, conceding just a single goal.

In all competitions, four of the last five clashes between the two sides have ended 0-0.

The winner of the match will face the winner of Belgium vs Brazil in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday, July 10.