France vs Argentina: Les Bleus hope to overcome Albiceleste hoodoo
France will take on Argentina in a tantalizing round of 16 clash at the Kazan Arena on Saturday, with a quarter-finals clash against Uruguay or Portugal looming on the horizon.
It’s set to be one of many blockbuster clashes slated for this summer’s round of 16, and fans will be in for a real treat on Saturday as first they’ll view Les Bleus and La Albiceleste, followed by Uruguay and Portugal.
The two sides combined have won three World Cup titles (one for France, and two for Argentina), but neither has had an impressive tournament so far to date. Although France topped Group C, it was hardly an inspired showing from Didier Deschamps’s side – summed up with their dull performance in an insipid 0-0 draw with Denmark.
Meanwhile, Argentina had a nightmare start to their campaign as they were held to a surprise 1-1 draw with debutants Iceland, and then overrun 3-0 by a rampant Croatia side many had expected to finish no higher than second in their quartet. However, Lionel Messi and Marcos Rojo’s goals against Nigeria were enough to help the 2014 World Cup runners-up squeeze into second place and keep their tournament ambitions afloat.
The two teams, naturally, are quite familiar with each other. This will be the 12th meeting between France and Argentina, and it’s the South American powerhouse who enjoy the better head-to-head record, with six wins versus the European giants’ two. Naturally, both sides also have an impressive track record in the latter stages of the World Cup. France has lost just one of their last 11 ties in the knockout rounds (excluding penalty shoot-outs) when they fell 1-0 to Germany back in 2014. Argentina, for their part, has successfully gotten out of the group stages at all but one of their last 13 tournaments (with the only exception coming in 2002 when they embarrassingly crashed out at the group stages).
Lionel Messi, who finally opened his World Cup account will be feeling the pressure as he has never scored in the knockout rounds of a World Cup. Having failed to inspire his team to victory in 2014, and then experiencing added frustration as Argentina lost both the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, the 31-year-old certainly knows this summer’s tournament is looking like his last chance to win a title with his national side. Interestingly enough, Messi is the last Argentinian player to score against France – which was way back in 2009 during a friendly tie.
Paul Pogba is one player who will be hoping to have a strong showing on Saturday, as the midfield star has been subject to a slew of criticism leading up to this competition after a frustrating season with Manchester United. Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud will be eager to make their mark in Russia, whilst youngster Kylian Mbappe has already had a great start to his debut World Cup by becoming France’s youngest-ever goalscorer. The PSG starlet will certainly relish the chance to take on – and potentially dispatch – Lionel Messi and his colleagues in what certainly is among the biggest games of his nascent career to date.
Will both teams finally come alive on Saturday? They will have to, as there’s no chance at redemption at this stage. Unfortunately, this is the type of clash viewers would have hoped to see in the latter stages of the tournament as a big team will be heading home early. Hopefully, it will live up to its billing as one of several blockbuster ties set to take place over the next few days.
