World Cup 2018: France v Argentina
Marcos Rojo scored a dramatic winner against Nigeria to book Argentina's place in the last 16BBC coverage
How to follow: Watch live on BBC One at 14:30 BST; listen on BBC Radio 5 live; text commentary on the BBC Sport website
TEAM NEWS
France coach Didier Deschamps will be without Manchester City's Benjamin Mendy because of a muscle injury.
Lucas Hernandez should be available and Deschamps is expected to recall the players he rested against Denmark.
Nabil Fekir is pushing for a start after impressive cameos off the bench so far, while right-back Djibril Sidibe may play instead of Benjamin Pavard.
Argentina have no new injury concerns and could stick with the same side that began the 2-1 win against Nigeria.
Midfielder Enzo Perez has a slight thigh problem but should be fit enough to start.
This will be Argentina's 15th game under coach Jorge Sampaoli and it could be the first time he has named an unchanged side.
OVERVIEW
Two footballing heavyweights who haven't even come close to finding their best form so far face off in Kazan knowing they are going to have to seriously up their game if they are to win one of the most open World Cups in years.
Argentina's nerves were jangling before they somehow sneaked through a tumultuous group stage thanks to a rare and priceless goal from defender Marcos Rojo in the 86th minute against Nigeria.
"It was win or die," said Gonzalo Higuain, while Lionel Messi admitted he "could not remember such suffering before."
The French, on the other hand, fielded their youngest team in a World Cup game since 1930 in their opening match against Australia. But despite their youthful exuberance they have underwhelmed.
Their passage to the last 16 may have been as serene as Argentina's was fraught, but coach Didier Deschamps still can't seem to get the best out of the fabulous array of attacking talent at his disposal.
VIEW FROM BOTH CAMPS
France striker Antoine Griezmann: "I hope to raise my level again in the last 16.
"It was the same at the Euro(s). It wasn't until the last 16 that I hit my stride. So we'll see. I have confidence in my game."
Argentina head coach Jorge Sampaoli on Lionel Messi: "He needs the support from his team-mates, only then will he be able able to play at his best.
"His human side is amazing. He is a person who feels, who cries, who suffers, who's happy when Argentina win. I've seen him sad and I've seen him happy.
"People have said he doesn't enjoy playing for Argentina. That's not true."
LAWRO'S PREDICTION
If the Argentina players did have a say in team selection and tactics after their talks with coach Jorge Sampaoli, then one of the decisions they made was to go back to playing with a back four.
Les Bleus have not played anywhere near to their potential yet, and the disjointed performance in their draw with Denmark was not helped by the changes made by boss Didier Deschamps.
Prediction: 2-1
Lawro's full predictions
France striker Antoine Griezmann was subdued during the group stageMATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
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This will be the first time these sides have met in the knockout stage of a World Cup.
France and Argentina will be facing each other for the 12th time. The South Americans hold the upper hand with six wins to two, keeping a clean sheet in eight of their previous 11 encounters.
They have only played twice in the last 32 years, in friendlies in 2007 and 2009, which were won by Argentina (1-0 and 2-0 respectively).
The fixture is the first between two previous world champions at this World Cup.
France
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The French haven't lost in their last eight World Cup matches against South American opposition at the World Cup, since a 2-1 defeat to Argentina in 1978.
Didier Deschamps will take charge of his 80th game as France head coach, overtaking Raymond Domenech's record.
Excluding penalty shoot-outs, France have lost only one of their last 11 games in the knockout stage of the World Cup (W8, D2), which was a 1-0 defeat to eventual winners Germany in 2014.
Since the introduction of the round of 16 in 1986, Les Bleus have always made it past that stage whenever they've reached it (1986, 1998, 2006 and 2014).
France only conceded five shots on target in their three group games. The only goal they let in was a penalty from Australia's Mile Jedinak. It is the first time they have not conceded a goal from open play at a World Cup group stage since 1998, a tournament they went on to win.
Argentina
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Argentina have gone past the first round for the 12th time in their last 13 World Cup appearances, with the only exception coming in 2002.
Their last four knockout games in the tournament have produced only three goals (two goals for, one against).
They have won each of their last 27 World Cup matches in which they were leading at half-time, since a 4-2 defeat in the 1930 World Cup final against Uruguay.
Argentina have been involved in five World Cup penalty shoot-outs, more than any other nation - winning a joint record four. France have been involved in four, winning twice.
They have reached the quarter-final stage in four of their last five World Cups, only failing in 2002 when they didn't get out of their group.
Three of Argentina's four knock-out games at the 2014 World Cup went to extra time.
'France have 7% chance of winning World Cup'
Football statisticians Gracenote Sports believe France have a 7% chance of winning the World Cup, while Argentina's prospects stand at 6%.
Simon Gleave, head of analysis at Gracenote Sports, said: "After getting a tougher than average set of group opponents, France's chance of winning the World Cup increased as they won their first two matches. A draw in their final fixture coupled with a tough match in the last 16 against Argentina has reduced France's chance back to 7%.
"Argentina came very close to being eliminated from the World Cup at the group phase and this is illustrated in the change in their chance of winning the competition. After initially drawing with Iceland, Argentina's chance of being 2018 world champions declined to 6%. A 3-0 defeat by Croatia - Argentina's third-worst result in World Cup history according to Gracenote's World Football Ranking - pushed their chance down even further, to just 2%.
"Once Argentina's participation in the knockout phase was confirmed with victory over Nigeria, the team's chance of being world champions bounced back to 6%. This is lower than pre-tournament, though, because of Argentina's poorer-than-expected results and a very tough draw for the rest of the competition."
Source: bbc.com
Source: bbc.com
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