France became the first team to book their spot in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals following a deserved 2-0 victory over Uruguay at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
An excellent first-half glancing header from defender Raphael Varane broke the deadlock five minutes before the break, while Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had an absolute horror show on the hour mark, as his error from a speculative Antoine Griezmann shot made the scoreline 2-0 to Les Bleus, who went on to see the game out and in the process extend their unbeaten run to nine games.
Didier Deschamps men’s are now one game away from a third World Cup final in 20 years, as they eagerly await the winners of Brazil’s clash with Belgium, with the last-4 fixture scheduled for Tuesday.
The win also meant that France, who booted out Argentina and Lionel Messi in the last-16, are now undefeated in their last nine matches against South American opposition at the World Cup, while the painful defeat left a number of Uruguay’s players in floods of tears at the final whistle as their journey came to an end in Nizhny.
A previously solid Uruguay headed into the quarter-final clash on the back of a seven-game winning run, which included four triumphs out of four in Russia, but the loss of Edinson Cavani through injury was a huge blow for Oscar Tabarez’s men who missed his attacking bite.
Tabarez’s side had their chances, with shot-stopper Hugo Lloris saving superbly from a Martin Caceres header just after Varane had headed France into the lead.
Uruguay continued to push for the equaliser after the break but their hopes were ultimately extinguished on the hour mark when their keeper Muslera made a complete mess of Griezmann’s 25-yard effort, which he spilled over the line after he decided to flap at the ball instead of catch it. It was a devastating moment for the 32-year-old who had previously enjoyed an excellent tournament.
