France edged out Argentina in what was probably the best game of the tournament so far, with a 4-3 margin to secure their qualification to the Quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup. The encounter proved to be an enticing one, and Les Bleus prevailed over their counterparts after a roller-coaster of a game at the Kazan Arena.
Didier Deschamps’ men took the lead as early as in the 13th minute after referee Alireza Faghani awarded a penalty following a challenge from Marcos Rojo on Kylian Mbappe. Antoine Griezmann shouldered the responsibility of converting the penalty and he made no mistake from 12 yards out to break the deadlock.
However, La Albiceleste were granted a life-line when Angel Di Maria restored parity between the sides in the 41st minute with a sumptuous strike from 30 yards out.
The second half witnessed more drama as Argentina took the lead after Lionel Messi’s shot on goal took a wicked deflection off Gabriel Mercado to completely wrong-foot Hugo Lloris on it’s way to the back of the net.
Despite going behind, France continued to push forward and Benjamin Pavard equalized for Les Bleus in the 57th minute, just nine minutes after Jorge Sampaoli’s men had taken the lead.
France produced one of the best attacking spells we have witnessed so far in the tournament just after the hour mark, and teenage sensation Mbappe scored twice in the space of four minutes to establish a two goal advantage over their opponents.
Sergio Aguero, who came off the bench, pulled a goal back in stoppage time for Argentina but it was a little too late to mount a comeback as France held on to become the first team to qualify for the last eight of the competition.
Without further delay, let’s take a closer look at the best and worst performers from this compelling encounter in Kazan.