France claimed the scalp of yet another South American nation as they beat Uruguay to advance to the last four of the World Cup. Les Bleus, who had beaten Argentina in the Round of 16, saw off Oscar Tabarez’s men in Nizhny Novgorod thanks to goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann.
Uruguay, who had eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the Round of 16, were sluggish and lacked a cutting edge upfront, perhaps missing the services of Edinson Cavani, who was forced to watch this game from the sidelines.
France took the lead through Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane, and doubled their advantage on the hour mark, when long serving Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera made a Karius-like howler and let Antoine Griezmann’s shot in.
France will now play the winner of the Belgium-Brazil quarterfinal and should the Samba Boys progress, as expected, will meet a third consecutive South American nation in the knockout stages of the tournament.
France 2 (Varane, Griezmann) Uruguay 0
Game played in front of 43.319 spectators at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium.
Man of the Match: Antoine Griezmann (France)