FIFA 2018 World Cup round of 16 Preview: France vs Argentina (date, time,venue)

macfranc007 June 30, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Oluwatomiwa Babalola

- France host Argentina in the first FIFA World Cup round of 16 clash at the Kazan Arena

- Didier Deschamps men reach this stage of the tournament as Group C leaders, while Jorge Sampoali's men finished as second best in Group D

- Both sides will be meeting for the third time at the World Cup but will meeting for the fifth time in all competitions

France and Argentina kick off the 2018 FIFA World Cup knock out stage fixtures on Saturday, June 30 at the Kazan Arena.

The French national team qualified for the round of 16 stage after gathering seven points from three preliminary matches.

They opened their campaign at this year's edition of the championship with a 2-1 victory over Australia and also claimed a 1-0 win over south American side Peru.

However, they were held to a goalless draw in their last group game by Denmark, who are also through to this round of the competition.

Didier Deschamps men scored three goals and conceded just one, as they kept two clean sheets in the process - a stat that pushes them as one of the favourites for this title at the end of the championship.

La Albiceleste on the other hand had to wait until the last day before they could book their spot in the knock out stage at Russia 2018.

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Just the way they did during the qualifiers that they had to bank on Lionel Messi's genius to power them to 3-1 win over Ecuador to reach qualify for this competition in the very first place.

Jorge Sampaoli began their campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against debutants Iceland.

And it became worse for them when they were humiliated 3-0 by Croatia in their second game, however, they managed to produce the result against Nigeria after beating the west African country once again by 3-1 to progress as Group D runners up with four points.

Meanwhile, according to a stats website, Soccerpunters, both teams have met four times - but two of their meetings were at the World Cup (1930 and 1978).

And the Argentines won all the games by a slim margin except for their last friendly encounter where they won by 2-0.

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30/06/2018 France vs Argentina 3pm

11/02/2009 France 0-2 Argentina (Friendlies 2009)
07/02/2007 France 0-1 Argentina (Friendlies 2007)

06/06/1978 Argentina 2 - 1 France (World Cup 1978 Argentina)
15/07/1930 Argentina 1-0 France (World Cup 1930 Uruguay)

However, both teams will be counting on the players to get them the result and push them through to the next round.

They also have array of stars plying their trades at top European clubs as France parade the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoinne Griezmann, Oliveier Giroud, Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembele and others.

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While Argentina will be counting on Barcelona star Lionel Messi to come to the part once again, and hoping that Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Ever Banega to assist the 31-year-old to bring glory to the south American team.

NAIJ.com previously reported that Argentina left it late as they booked their place in the round of 16 in Russia 2018 after a 2-1 victory against Nigeria.

Goals from Messi and Rojo gave the La Albiceleste 2-1 win over the Super Eagles as Victor Moses' scored his first goal in the World Cup for Nigeria.

In the other game, Croatia defeated Iceland 2-1 to finish top of Group D.

Argentina will now face France in their next game at the Russia 2018 World Cup which is the round of 16 while Croatia face Denmark.

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