France and Argentina face off for a spot in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup
Hello everyone out there. Ready? The knockout stages of the 2018 World Cup begins today and it couldn't have started with a better fixture than France Vs Argentina.
Two teams with an array of stars will do battle to secure a spot in the quarter finals of the competition.
Argentina laboured to make the last 16, thanks to a Marcos Rojo stunner against Nigeria but Messi and his mates will have to play better than they did in the group stages to overcome a French team that is yet to taste a defeat in the tournament.
There have been rumours of in-fighting and bickering in the Argentina dressing room and coach Sampaoli must weather the storm to get the best out of his misfiring stars.
Just like Argentina, France are yet to light up the tournament with their stars but you can trust Pogba, Griezmann and their mates show up when it's matters most.
France will be without Benjamin Mandy who picked up an injury in their game against Denmark, Argentina have no injury worries, heading into the game.
France and Argentina will be facing each other for the 12th time. The South Americans hold the upper hand with six wins to two (D3), keeping a clean sheet in eight of their previous 11 encounters with the French.
Argentina have won their two World Cup encounters with France, back in 1930 (1-0) and 1978 (2-1). On both occasions, they reached the final, losing it in 1930 and winning in 1978.
Game kicks off at 2pm GMT… Stay with us for all the live text update.
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