Raphael Varane's glancing header and a goalkeeping blunder that gifted Antoine Griezmann a soft goal gave France a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in the first World Cup quarter-final on Friday and a set up a last-four tie with Brazil or Belgium.
Uruguay went into the game without key striker Edinson Cavani, who was ruled out with a calf injury with Cristhian Stuani drafted into the starting line-up and the impact on their attack was noticeable.
#FRA win!
— FIFA World Cup ? (@FIFAWorldCup) July 6, 2018
France are the first team to book their place in the semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over @Uruguay! #URUFRA // #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/JLwN4S2TDI
France forward Kylian Mbappe, who had ripped apart Argentina in the previous round with his directness and pace, wasted a good opportunity to open the scoring in the 15th minute when Olivier Giroud headed across the box to him but the 19-year-old's looping header was off-target.
A relatively quiet game sprung to life in the 40th minute when Varane sprinted clear of his marker to meet a well-placed Griezmann free kick with a perfectly angled header.
Full Time: Uruguay 0-2 France.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 6, 2018
Goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann fire France into the semi-finals.
Reaction: https://t.co/GbZkHaF82V#URU #FRA #URUFRA #bbcworldcup #Worldcup pic.twitter.com/nYYlWA6Hul
Moments later, France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ensured his side went in at the break with the advantage, producing a brilliant one-handed save to keep out a Martin Caceres header although Diego Godin will be disappointed his follow-up shot was wildly off target.
If that was an example of goalkeeping at its very best, Uruguay's Fernando Muslera showed how easily it can go wrong for the custodian with a horrendous error to gift France their second goal in the 61st minute.
Allez Les Bleus!
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 6, 2018
France win its first ever World Cup match against Uruguay. pic.twitter.com/EWBBag7Odq
Griezmann tried his luck with an effort from outside the box which was straight at Muslera but the keeper's ill-chosen attempt to palm the ball away ended with him merely deflecting the ball into the net.
Brazil and Belgium meet later on Friday while Saturday's quarter-finals see England take on Sweden and hosts Russia face Croatia.
#URU 0-2 #FRA
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 6, 2018
France are the first team to advance to the #WorldCup semi-finals, with goals from Varane and Griezmann enough to dump Uruguay out.
Full stats and ratings -- https://t.co/TTOrbiXR02 #URUFRA pic.twitter.com/qcEUadRb7J