Didier Dechamps moved one step closer to becoming only the third person to win the World Cup as a player and a coach when his France team defeated tow time champions Uruguay 2-0 in the first quarter final of the FIFA World Cup in on Friday.
Goals either side of half time from defender Raphael Varane and midfielder Antoine Griezmann eased the 1998 champions in the Tuesday’s semifinal in St. Petersburg.
Uruguay started on the front foot with Stuani the replacement for Edinson Cavani forcing the first save out of Hugo Loris who punched away a header after a Uruguay corner.
Mbappe should have opened the scoring for France with a header from 8 yards but jumped too early and was unable to get any power on the header which looped unto the top of the net in the 8th minute.
After being unable to breach the French defense early on, Uruguay retreated and played behind the ball, inviting the French to come at them as they played on the counter.
The strategy appeared to be working until Varane struck five minutes before the break. The big defender headed into corner of goal from a Griezmann free kick giving the diving Fernando Muslera with no chance.
Lloris then came up with a brilliant save from a Martin Caceres header from a free kick in the 43rd minute to ensure his team led at the half time interval, although Diego Godin should have done better with the rebound than to blast over the crossbar.
A good fee kick from Mbappe into the danger area early in the second half was met by a strong fist by Muslera as France hunted the killer second goal.
Umtiti with a bit of scrimmage in the box almost gave Uruguay an opening in the 55th minute but he managed to scramble the ball clear in the end.
Stuani was replaced by Gomez on 59th minute as Cavani looked on disconsolately from the bench, the victim of an injured calf muscle.
Then is the 61st minute a howler from the experienced Uruguayan goalkeeper gifted France their second. Muslera appeared to misjudge the Griezmann shot which he should have been saved but it slipped through his hands and into the net to make it 2-0.
Despite the two goal advantage France continued to pile on the pressure and a Tolisso curler went just over the top in the 72nd minute.
In the 76th minute, a wild effort from Giroud who has had little impact for France all World Cup went well wide of far post.
The Uruguayan midfielder Jose Gimenez was seen crying even before the final whistle as the reality of a World Cup exit at the quarter final round started to sink in.
France are now just two wins away from their second World title.
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