Further reading
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That’s all from today’s curtain-raiser: You can follow the action from a mouth-watering main event with Scott Murray, who is helming our live coverage of Brazil v Belgium.
Uruguay's manager speaks
“Our dream comes to an end but the fact that the World Cup is over doesn’t mean that we can’t do well in the Copa America,” said Oscar Tabarez. “We have new dreams which we will try to make come true. We are sad, we feel it, but we have to move on. Many countries in the football elite left this tournament much earlier than we did. Let’s not be too dramatic, this is our reality.”
Guardian report: Uruguay 0-2 France
Stuart James was at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium for the Guardian. Here’s how he saw France book their place in the World Cup semi-finals at the expense of Uruguay.
That second half flash point: At one point during the second half, things threatened to boil over after Kylian Mbappe had engaged in a wee spot of showboating. Laying the ball off to a team-mate in the middle of the pitch with a flashy drag-back, he continued his jog past Christian Rodriguez.
The Uruguay defender stuck out his arm as if to say “Oi, stop taking the micky!” and barely touched the striker, who promptly dropped to the ground as if he’d been hit by a wrecking ball. Lots of other players got involved, Paul Pogba lost the plot completely and ultimately, it was Mbappe and Rodriguez who got booked.
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Enjoy the experience of placing lots of ticks in lots of small circles as you mark the players out of 10 for their performances.
Match report: Uruguay 0-2 France
Here’s our snap, on the whistle report from the Nizhney Novgorod Stadium.
Full-time: Uruguay 0-2 France
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over - France book their place in the World Cup semi-finals, where they will face either Brazil or Belgium. They’ve won courtesy of two very soft goals – a header at a set-piece and a goalkeeping error – but were ultimately too good for a Uruguay team that desperately missed their talismanic striker Edinson Cavani. France advance, while Uruguay go home.
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90+4 min: Uruguay lay siege to the France penalty area, but are unable to create a goalscoring opportunity.
90+2 min: France substitution: Antoine Griezmann off, Nabil Fekir on.
90+1 min: Gimenez picks up the ball on the right wing and tries to cross the ball into the France penalty area. It’s cleared by the first man.
88 min: Griezmann curls the ball over the bar. The camera cuts to Jose Gimenez, who is in floods of tears. “Embarrassing,” is the verdict of Gary Neville, who is on co-comms for the UK broadcast.
88 min: Free-kick for France about about 30 yards from the Uruguay goal, slightly right of centre. Griezmann lines it up.
88 min: France substitution: Kylian Mbappe off, Ousmane Dembele on.
86 min: Luis Suarez tries to play Christian Rodriguez in behind, but the substitute isn’t able to latch on to his long ball from deep.
85 min: France continue to control possession, their playing pinging passes amongst themselves, reducing the closing stages of this match to one giant training ground Rondo, with Uruguay’s players the hapless piggies in the middle.
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82 min: Uruguay attack down the right flank, with Urretaviscaya trying to get in behind Lucas Hernandez. The French full-back holds him off and Urretaviscaya goes to ground looking for a free-kick. He doesn’t get one.
79 min: France substitution: Steven Nzonzi on, Corentin Tolisso off. Seeing his number was about to go up, Tolisso walked to the side of the pitch furthest from the technical area so he’d have a longer distance to walk off. He gets plenty of abuse from assorted Uruguay players on his way off. As if they wouldn’t employ such tactics in his position ...
77 min: Uruguay’s players are starting to tire visibly as they chase what looks an increasingly lost cause. Laxalt is dispossessed on a gallop down the left flank and wins a throw-in deep in Uruguayan territory. France clear, with Pogba hacking the ball into the sky.
75 min: With 15 minutes to go, Uruguay trail by two very soft goals and France attack down their right flank. The ball’s towards Hernandez on the left and eventually finds its way to Olivier Giroud on the edge of the area. He curls a shot well wide of the far post.
74 min: Uruguay substitution: Nahitan Nandez off, Jonathan Urretaviscaya on.
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72 min: Good build-up play from France results in Corentin Tolisso having a clear sight on goal from the edge of the Uruguay penalty area. He fires over, when he really should have done a lot better.
70 min: Uruguay plug on in search of a goal. Caceres crosses the ball into the France penalty area, where Hernandez heads it out for a throw-in.
67 min: There’s a bit of a mass melee as Kylian Mbappe goes to ground after shipping a cuff in the ribs from Rodriguez off the ball. Godin gets involved, while Mbappe and Paul Pogba lose their heads completely. After much shoving and jostling between assorted players from both teams, the referee books Rodriguez and Mbappe, before play can resume.
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66 min: Looking at a replay of the Griezmann goal from behind the striker, there wasn’t much swerve on the ball. Sticking his hands up at face height to bat it away, Muslera didn’t have his body behind it and his reasons for not just catching it will make for interesting listening. It wasn’t a particularly fierce shot and should have been a very straightforward save.
64 min: This could be party time for France, as Uruguay have no option now but to throw men forward and go in search of a goal. The gaps they leave at the back will be meat and drink to the French attackers.
62 min: Dearie me, that’s woeful from Muslera. After Paul Pogba had outmuscled Vecino and powered up the field, Antoine Griezmann found the ball at his feet on the edge of the Uruguay penalty area. He tried a shot, which Muslera had covered. Trying to parry instead of catch the ball, the goalkeeper could only watch in horror as it slipped through his hands and dropped over the line.
GOAL! Uruguay 0-2 France
France double their lead courtesy of a howler from Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal.
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58 min: Uruguay double-substitution: Cristhian Stuani and John Bentancur off, Maxi Gomez and Christian Rodriguez on. Uruguay move from a narrow midfield diamond to a flat four with two up front.
57 min: On the Uruguay bench, Maxi Gomez is preparing to come on. On the pitch, Luis Suarez goes down holding his lower back after being on the end receiving end of a challenge from Raphael Varane.
56 min: The ball breaks to Rodrigo Bentancur on the edge of the France penalty area. Off balance and falling over, he tries a shot but it’s hopelessly wide of the target.
55 min: On route to the France penalty area, Suarez plays the ball wide to Stuani and then bollocks his team-mate out of it when the return pass from the byline into the penalty area is wayward.
53 min: The ball comes to Cristhian Stuani in the French half and he immediately loses possession. He has big, Cavani-sized boots to fill today and isn’t doing a very good job.
52 min: France continue to dominate the early stages of this second half, turning the screw on their South American opponents. They win another corner, which Griezmann sends towards the near post. Luis Suarez heads clear.
49 min: Laxalt fouls Mbappe, giving the teenager a free-kick wide on the right. His delivery through the corridor of uncertainty along the edge of the Uruguay six-yard box is sublime and forces Muslera off his line to punch clear. The Uruguay goalkeeper catches Paul Pogba, who had been leaping to try and head the ball goalwards. Collateral damage, the French midfielder isn’t badly hurt.
49 min: A foul on Tolisso in a congested centre-circle results in a free-kick for France, just inside their own half.
48 min: Muslera miscontrols a back-pass and is relieved to see the ball go out of play for a goal-kick after Griezmann closes him down and gets a toe to it.
47 min: France win a free-kick, wide on the right. Griezmann swings the ball into the Uruguay penalty area, but it’s too close to Fernando Muslera.
46 min: Kylian Mbappe makes a great run in behind the Uruguay defence, but Antoine Griezmann, with the ball at his feet, doesn’t spot him. Mbappe lifts his hands to his head in frustration.
Second half: Uruguay 0-1 France
46 min: France get the ball rolling for the second half, with no changes in personnel on either side.
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Half-time: Uruguay 0-1 France
Peep! Nestor Pitana signals for half-time and the teams troop off the pitch. France lead a scrappy game courtesy of Raphael Varane’s flicked header in the 40th minute of a scrappy first half in which both teams had chances to score. Hugo Lloris has been the busier of the two goalkeepers and has helped preserve his side’s lead with a splendid save shortly before the break.
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45+1 min: Another free-kick for Uruguay, for an Umtiti foul on Suarez. Torreira sends the ball into the mixer again, Suarez heads across the face of goal and France clear.
44 min: An incredible save! Uruguay win a free-kick far out from the France goal. The ball’s floated into the mixer, where Martin Caceres rises highest to send a thumping downward header towards the bottom corner. Incredibly, Lloris dives to his right and keeps the ball out with a strong hand. He recovers quickly to deny Stuani, who fires over from close range on the follow up. Ururugay are really, really missing Edinson Cavani here.
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43 min: Uruguay kick off and win a corner, from which Nandez sends a rasping drive goalwards. Lloris saves.
41 min: That’s exactly what this game needed from a neutral point of view - France take the lead, which means Uruguay will need to attack more. France had a free-kick wide on the right, which Antoine Griezmann took. With a stuttering run up, he swung the ball into the penalty area, where Raphael Varane had made a run, got the flick and sent the ball skimming past Fernando Muslera and inside the far post.
GOAL! Uruguay 0-1 France
Raphael Varane gives France the lead, heading in from a Griezmann free-kick.
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38 min: Rodrigo Bentancur gets booked for a crunching late challenge on Corentin Tolisso. He’ll miss the semi-final should Uruguay progress. Yellow cards picked up in previous matches aren’t scrubbed until after the quarter-finals.
37 min: A very promising Uruguay counter-attack breaks down when Cristhian Stuani misplaces a pass to Martin Caceres.
36 min: Matias Vecino gets a shot on target, but doesn’t put enough power into his effort to make life difficult for Hugo Lloris.
35 min: Paul Pogba finds Kylian Mbappe with a decent ball to the right flank. Mbappe beats Laxalt for speed and sends a cross into the Uruguay penalty area, but there’s nobody on hand to steer it goalwards.
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32 min: Lucas Hernandez is booked for a tug on the shirt of Nahitan Nandez as the Uruguayan winger tries to beat him for speed. I say “a tug”, but he seems to have dragged out of it so hard that the Nandez is forced to put on a new shirt before play can continue.
30 min: Benjamin Pavard curls a low cross into the Uruguay penalty area, trying to pick out Olivier Giroud. It’s a decent cross, but evades both its intended target and Tolisso, who was sprinting to meet it at the far post.
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29 min: Olivier Giroud makes a near post run to try to get on the end of a Paul Pogba cross from the right touchline. The delivery is a mite too close to Fernando Muslera and the Uruguayan goalkeeper receives it gratefully.
27 min: Corentin Tolisso sents a cross floating into the Uruguay penalty area, where Jose Gimenez clears.
26 min: Laxalt takes on Mbappe and wins the battle, but concedes a corner in the process.
25 min: Kylian Mbappe gets on the ball out by the right touchline and is immediately surrounded by four Uruguayans. They may have seen his performance against Argentina.
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23 min: Deep inside his own half, Benjamin Pavard goes down on the touchline after getting caught by a late barge from Luis Suarez that catches him in the ribs.
22 min: France corner. Griezmann sends the ball towards the near post, where it’s cleared.
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21 min: Kylian Mbappe tries to play Giroud in behind the Uruguay defence, but his pass isn’t quite perfectly weighted, forcing his team-mate to check his run.
20 min: Diego Laxalt cuts out a cross-field pass from Antoine Griezmann to Kylian Mbappe.
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18 min: Paul Pogba tries a shot from about 35 yards, which goes high and wide of the Uruguay goal.
16 min: France attack and the ball’s headed across the edge of the penalty area by Olivier Giroud to an unmarked Kylian Mbappe. Instead of taking it down and unleashing a shot, he sends a header looping on to the roof of the net.
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14 min: Uruguay win the first corner of the match. The ball’s driven into the France penalty area by Torreira and Diego Godin gets a flick on at the near post. Hugo Lloris is forced to clear with a low diving punch under pressure from Jose Gimenez.
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11 min: The ball breaks for N’Golo Kante on the edge of the Uruguay penalty area and he tries a shot, but his effort is blocked. There are bodies dropping all over the pitch as various players continue their introductions to each other.
9 min: Martin Caceres is penalised for a foul on Olivier Giroud, just inside the Uruguay half. Free-kick for France. Moments later, Lucas Hernandez goes to ground and rolls around under a heavy challenge from Cristhian Stuani. As Hernandez writhes on the ground, apropos nothing, Nahitan Nadez collapses backwards on top of him.
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8 min: France attack, with Lucas Hernandez trying a shot from a long way out. His effort hits Giroud, who is unable to help the ball on its way towards the Uruguay goal. A lively start to what many predicted might be a bit of a snoozefest.
5 min: After Stuani’s miskick, the ball trundles on to Nahitan Nadez, who has a shot blocked. Raphael Varane clears for France after momentary panic in their penalty area.
4 min: Great play from Uruguay as Laxalt beats Benjamin Pavard for speed down the left flank to win a long ball from the back. He crosses into the penalty area, where Cristhian Stuani miskicks completely.
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3 min: Giroud goes to ground holding his ankle after getting a getting-to-know you rake down his achilles from Jose Gimenez. There’s a break in play as he recovers.
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1 min: France build from the back with Lucas Hernandez on the ball just inside the Uruguay half. The ball’s played to the other side of the pitch, where Toliso gets a touch. He finds Griezmann, who tries to play Giroud in behind.
Uruguay v France is go ...
1 min: Uruguay kick off, their players wearing their customary kit of light blue shirts, navy shorts and navy socks. France’s players wear white shirts, shorts and socks.
Not long now: The teams line up in the tunnel and are led out by captains Hugo Lloris and Diego Godin respectively. Grabbing their mascots by the hands, the two sets of players are given the signal to fall in behind referee Nestor Pitana and march out on to the pitch.
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Point to ponder: Despite the presence of some of the world’s finest striking talent on the pitch today, this match is expected to be tight as a drum if the bookmakers are to be believed.
You can get odds of almost 2-1 on there being three or more goals, while the prospect of there being four or more is priced up at 5-1.
True, there’s no shortage of top defending talent lining up today, but when you consider that France conceded three goals to an Argentina side considered by many to be a bit of a laughing stock, I find it difficult to believe there won’t be a few goals in this match. I mean, look at the attacking talent on both sides.
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Uruguay v France line-ups
Uruguay: Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt, Nandez, Torreira, Vecino, Bentancur, Suarez, Stuani.
Subs: Campana, Varela, Sanchez, Rodriguez, De Arrascaeta, Gaston Silva, Maxi Pereira, Gomez, Coates, Urreta, Martin Silva.
France: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Lucas, Pogba, Kante, Mbappe-Lottin, Griezmann, Tolisso, Giroud.
Subs: Mandanda, Kimpembe, Lemar, Dembele, Nzonzi, Rami, Fekir, Sidibe, Thauvin, Mendy, Areola.
Referee: Nestor Pitana (Argentina)
An attacking line-up from France: Renowned for their parsimony, Uruguay’s back four will have their work cut out today facing a France side boasting Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud. The job of trying to contain Mbappe will fall to Diego Laxalt, who plays as a left-winger for Girona, but has excelled for Uruguay in this tournament as a left-back.
Cavani does not start ...
The Uruguay striker has failed in his bid to make the starting line-up and will be replaced by Girona’s Cristhian Stuani.
France: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez, Kante, Pogba, Mbappe, Griezmann, Tolisso, Giroud
Uruguay: Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt; Nandez, Torreira, Vecino, Bentancur; Suarez, Stuani
Early team news: Edinson Cavani is a doubt for Uruguay, following the calf injury which brought his participation in Uruguay’s win over Portugal to an abrupt and painful end. Having scored both Uruguay’s goals in that match, his absence would be a huge blow for the side. Cristian Rodriguez or Maxi Gomez could come in for Cavani if required, although Oscar Tabarez could bring in an extra midfielder and play Luis Suarez on his own up front.
France have no such injury concerns, but must do without Blaise Matuidi today. The central midfielder is suspended after picking up his second booking of the tournament in his side’s win over Argentina.
World Cup quarter-final: France v Uruguay
To Nizhny Novgorod, for the first of this summer’s World Cup quarter-finals. France take on Uruguay in a match between two unbeaten sides in this competition and with Edinson Cavani battling to be fit in time for today’s match, the South American side find themselves at something of a disadvantage as they attempt to make it five wins from five at this tournament. It promises to be an intriguing encounter so stay tuned for team news and build-up ahead of today’s 3pm (BST) kick-off.
