The 2018 Fifa World Cup has been quite the whirlwind of emotions for fans of soccer and more specifically, fans of nations that were favorites to win it all. With Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Portugal already out of the tournament, it leaves a lot of room for upsets, surprises victories and exciting games.
Both Uruguay and France are seasoned teams in International play. France has won the competition once in 1998 while Uruguay won the first ever World Cup in 1930 and later won it in 1950. These countries know what it feels like to win. It has been quite some time since they’ve won but regardless, the history is there. With history on the line yet again, the pressure will be on both teams to move to the next stage.
Both Uruguay and France topped their groups in the round robin stages and went on to face some pretty grueling opponents in the knockout stages. In the end, France outscored an underwhelming Argentina team led by Lionel Messi and Uruguay shocked Portugal fans by eliminating Cristiano Ronaldo and company in convincing fashion. Both teams have their fair share of stars as well. For France, it’s Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezzman as well as the 19-year-old star in the making Kylian Mbappé. Mbappe helped France get the deciding goal against Argentina and should be a big factor against the tough Uruguayan defense led by Godin.
For Uruguay, the clear stars on the offensive end are two seasoned scorers in Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Cavani scored the 2 goals that helped Uruguay top Portugal while Suarez assisted the ball to his attacking teammate. The big question in their upcoming matchup will be Cavani’s health. He left the game against Portugal in the 70th minute with a calf strain and has been seen limping in the streets of Russia.
However, he and his Uruguayan teammates have until Friday to prepare. They will take all the rest and preparation they can get because against this France team (who have become the favorites of the tournament) will be a force to reckon with.
