Two teams, Argentina and France, who were tipped to rule in Russia have under-performed and under-whelmed. But both these teams remain on the board and will provide the first blockbuster knockout tie of FIFA World Cup 2018 on Saturday.
Jorge Sampaoli’s ageing Argentinians are divided after stumbling into the knockout stages through the magic of Lionel Messi. And they will turn to him once again; when they come up against France in Kazan.
Les Bleus, the 1998 champions, boast a squad brimming with superstars; from Paul Pogba to Kylian Mbappe, and Antoine Griezmann to Nabil Fekir.
But despite winning their group, Didier Deschamps’ team are yet to reach top gear — or possibly even second gear. France will go into the game, as favourites, expected to pluck the Argentinian fingers off the cliff they are clinging on to during the pre-quarterfinals.
Best bets
We’ve been backing Paul Pogba to spark into life in the knockout stages, and Betway offers odds of 66/1 for the Manchester United man to be the first goalscorer in a 2-1 France win.
Opta stats
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 against 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.
The last South American team to beat France at the World Cup were Argentina in 1978. Since then, France are unbeaten in eight World Cup fixtures against CONMEBOL opposition (W4 D4). Argentina have gone past the first round for the 12th time in their last 13 World Cup appearances. The only exception came in 2002. Their last four knockout games in the tournament have produced only three goals (2 goals for, 1 against).
Penalty shoot-outs excluded, France have lost only one of their last 11 games in the knockout stages of the World Cup (W8 D2). That came against eventual winners Germany in July 2014 (0-1). Since the introduction of the round of 16 in 1986, France have always made it past that stage whenever they’ve reached it (1986, 1998, 2006, 2014).