NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia, (Reuters) – Uruguay play France in the quarter-finals of the World Cup tomorrow.
When: July 6, 1700 local time (1400 GMT / 10 AM ET)
Where: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium
Capacity: 43,319
Referee: To be announced
Key stats:
– France play in a World Cup quarter-final for an seventh time with four successes and two defeats in past appearances in the last eight. Uruguay beat England in the last eight in 1954, the Soviet Union in 1970 and Ghana on penalties in 2010 but lost 4-0 to West Germany in 1966.
– France have won two penalty shootouts at the World Cup and lost two, the last in the 2006 final against Italy. Uruguay’s only previous shootout experience was successful, against Ghana in Johannesburg eight years ago.
– Both teams finished top of their opening round group in Russia with Uruguay winning all three games in Group A and France finishing with seven points in Group C. Both also had narrow wins in the second round as France beat Argentina and Uruguay edged out Portugal.
– France will be without suspended midfielder Blaise Matudi for the match while four players (Olivier Giroud, Benjamin Pavard, Paul Pogba and Corentin Tolisso) are one booking away from a one-match ban. Uruguay have had only one caution in the tournament, handed to Rodrigo Bentancur.
– Spain might be out of the World Cup but four Atletico Madrid players could feature in the game with Antoine Griezmann and Lucas Hernandez on the French side and Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin stalwarts in the Uruguay defence.
– The match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium will be the only quarter-final encounter to pit two former champions against each other. Uruguay lifted the World Cup trophy in 1930 and 1950, while France took the honours in 1998.
– Uruguay go into this game on seven successive victories, conceding a single goal in the process in their last match against Portugal on Saturday. They have scored 13 times. Uruguay’s last defeat was 2-1 by Austria in November.
– France’s only defeat in their last 16 matches was in March at home by Colombia in a friendly match. They have recorded eight wins and two draws in their last 10 fixtures.
– This will be the last game at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium where both countries play for the first time. The previous five matches at the venue have delivered 17 goals and a penalty shootout as Croatia edged Denmark in the previous round.
Previous meetings:
These two sides have met three times previously at the World Cup. In their first meeting, a group game in 1966, Uruguay won 2-1 but the subsequent encounters ended goalless. There have also been a further two goalless draws in past friendlies and the last meeting between the two countries was a 1-0 win for Uruguay in a friendly in Montevideo five years ago.