• Argentina and France, two star-studded teams that were underwhelming in the group stage, face off in the first game of the 2018 World Cup knockout stage.
• Refresh here for live World Cup updates and analysis from Russia.
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How to watch: In the U.S., FS1 and Telemundo have the broadcast at 10 a.m. Eastern, but you can stream it here.
Messi on the Spot
Best stat you might not know entering today? Lionel Messi has never scored in a knockout round game at the World Cup.
Yellow Danger
Pogba, Blaise Matuidi and Corentin Tolisso are all one booking away from suspension for France. Ever Banega, Gabriel Mercado, Javier Mascherano, Lionel Messi, Marcos Acuna and Nicolas Otamendi are in the same danger for Argentina.
Player to Watch: Ever Banega
Want a non-Messi, non-Griezmann, non-Pogba player to watch today? Try Ever Banega. He sprung Messi for that gorgeous goal against Nigeria with an inch-perfect ball over the top, and he will again need to do a lot of work in midfield to make Argentina work. Mascherano will handle the dirty work behind him — hopefully, says every Argentina fan, without conceding a penalty this time.
Really fantastic move this for Messi’s goal. The pass from Banega is perfect. But the movement from Messi and then the touch and finish. Sublime! pic.twitter.com/eZ4Pba2fE2
— Whitehouse Address (@The_W_Address) June 26, 2018
Argentina’s Starting Lineup
Argentina drops Aguero again, and starts with Di Maria and Pavon up front flanking Messi.
12 Franco Armani (River Plate)
2 Gabriel Mercado (Sevilla)
17 Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City)
16 Marcos Rojo (Manchester United)
3 Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax)
15 Enzo Perez (Boca Juniors)
14 Javier Mascherano (Hebei Fortune)
7 Ever Banega (Sevilla)
22 Cristian Pavon (Boca Juniors)
10 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
11 Angel di María (Paris St Germain)
The teams have arrived for #FRAARG!
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 30, 2018
Who's looking forward to this one?
TV listings https://t.co/xliHcxWvEO
France’s Starting Lineup
France goes back to its A-list:
1 Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
2 Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart)
4 Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
5 Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona)
21 Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid)
13 N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
6 Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
10 Kylian Mbappé (Paris St Germain)
7 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
14 Blaise Matuidi (Juventus)
9 Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)
A Look at the Bracket
Saturday’s winner in Kazan plays the winner of the late game, Uruguay vs. Portugal in Sochi. That means before the day is done we could be looking at a Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo quarterfinal, or a tournament without either one of them. Or something in between.
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World Cup 2018 Bracket: The 16 Teams in the Knockout Round
Teams and schedule for the knockout stage.
Argentina Works on Penalties
Argentina practiced penalties in training Friday. You’d have to think every team would be doing that now, but Argentina may need it most: they lost the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals to Chile in penalty shootouts.
France: Mendy Out, but Umtiti Might Return
Benjamin Mendy is out for France but Samuel Umtiti might be back to join the silky Raphael Varane in central defense. The always-working midfielder N’Golo Kanté will probably get the job of shadowing Messi, or at least hectoring him when he does get the ball.
“We’re working to improve, to play a bit better, because we can do it,” France’s Umtiti said. “But the most important thing will be to win, because if we go all the way, even if most people are not pleased by our football, everybody will be happy and we won’t hear any more that the football was lacking.”
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The Outstanding Goals of Ronaldo and Kroos as You’ve Never Seen Them
We have dissected the critical moment leading to each goal in order to fly you through the scene.
Sampaoli Gets Messi’s Support
There have been rumors that Argentina’s players have lost faith in Sampaoli, that they now dismiss his opinions and pick the team themselves. But after the Nigeria win, Messi made a point of seeking out Sampaoli for a hug. “Leo’s gesture with me makes me proud,” he said. “He knows all the passion I put into everything I do.”
Argentina vs. France Top Story Lines
• France and Argentina will be happy to see the back of the group stage, but for different reasons. France was not as good as advertised but still won its group. Argentina was plainly terrible at times — disorganized, disappointing, dismal even — but a goal from Marcos Rojo in the dying minutes against Argentina sent them through.
• France’s two early wins allowed it to rest stars like Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé against Denmark, and they’ll be hoping that shows up as crispness today, not sleepiness or lost momentum.
• Argentina’s first two games were an unmitigated dumpster fire, but they found a way to beat Nigeria, 2-1, on a gorgeous Lionel Messi goal and a late winner from Marcos Rojo. If Messi has indeed decided to play a vital role here, to lift his team by the scruff of its neck and carry it, that could be a game-changer for Argentina.
“We are going to play against a team with great individual players,” Argentina Manager Jorge Sampaoli said. “They are among the very best contenders and we will need to be very consistent to come out on top of a very difficult match.”
• Argentina was a World Cup finalist four years ago. If they don’t straighten out their problems, they could follow the team that beat them — Germany — out the door. The Germans didn’t survive the group stage.
• France enters off a scoreless tie against Denmark, the only such match of the World Cup, and a game so dreadful that the coaches were asked to explain themselves afterward. “One point for the draw was good enough for them, and we didn’t have to take risks to do better because this result was good for everyone,” France Manager Didier Deschamps said.
Some Pregame Reading
• Rory Smith of The Times did a terrific piece on where France finds its players these days: many cut their teeth in the vast concrete sprawl of cities and satellite towns outside Paris, a talent pool the size of Belgium.
• Is Lionel Messi to blame for what ails Argentina? Not so fast.
• Is today the point in the World Cup when the surprises stop? The carnival spirit and upsets of the group stage rarely continue in the knockout rounds, Rory Smith writes, but international soccer is more democratic than ever.
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