The Latest: Embolo back at World Cup after parental leave

MOSCOW (AP) The Latest on Saturday at the World Cup (all times local):

7:55 p.m.

James Rodriguez has missed a practice session and remains in doubt for Colombia’s World Cup knockout game against England.

Rodriguez was the only Colombia player who didn’t take part in practice session Saturday, three days before the round of 16 game.

The attacking midfielder left the field in the first half of Colombia’s 1-0 victory over Senegal last week and has been bothered by a calf muscle injury since the start of the tournament.

Colombia’s national team hasn’t clarified how serious the injury is.

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7:40 p.m.

Javier Mascherano has announced he’s retiring from the national team after Argentina was eliminated from the World Cup.

The 34-year-old midfielder says ”It’s time to say goodbye and for the younger players to step in.”

Argentina had a 2-1 lead early in the second half but France rallied to win 4-3 and become the first team to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.

Mascherano, who has played at four World Cups, made his debut for Argentina in 2003 when he still hadn’t played professionally for River Plate.

He holds the record for most appearances for Argentina with 147.

Now, the defensive midfielder says it’s time for a new generation to shine: ”Hopefully they can achieve something. Now I’m one more fan of the national team.”

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7:10 p.m.

Kylian Mbappe’s name is already being uttered in the same sentence as Pele.

The 19-year-old France forward has become the first teenager to score at least two goals in a World Cup game since the Brazilian great in 1958.

His two goals against Argentina ensured France a 4-3 win and made Le Bleus the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals at this World Cup. He also drew the penalty that led to France’s first goal and earned the player of the match award.

Mbappe is just the sixth teenager to score more than once in a World Cup tournament – Brazil leads that list with 6.

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6:53 p.m.

Teenager Kylian Mbappe struck twice inside five second-half minutes to ensure France beat Argentina 4-3 and became the first team to qualify for the World Cup quarterfinals.

Following an exhilarating display between two former champions, France came from behind to defeat Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

And Les Bleus owed their triumph to the 19-year-old Mbappe. Always a threat to Argentina with his speed and power, Mbappe was at the heart of France’s performance.

France took an early lead after Antoine Griezmann broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 13th – after Mbappe drew the penalty – with Angel Di Maria leveling the score with a thunder strike just before the interval.

Messi set-up a goal for Gabriel Mercado to give Argentina a 2-1 lead just after halftime but Argentina’s defense cracked to concede three goals in the space of 11 minutes. Defender Benjamin Pavard equalized with his first international goal, Mbappe then scored with a cool finish from a tight angle and netted again in the 68th with some help from Olivier Giroud.

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero pulled one back in the third minute of added time with a header from Messi’s pass.

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6:30 p.m.

David Silva wants Spain to play fast football in attack to beat Russia in the World Cup round of 16.

Silva says ”sometimes these teams park the bus in front of us and it’s hard to handle,” and the solution is speed, adding that ”if we play very fast up front we’ll have more options and generate spaces in which we can hurt them.”

Silva scored for Spain in its 3-0 win over Russia in the semifinals of the European Championship in 2008, the last time the teams met in a competitive fixture.

After a tough battle past a group also containing Portugal, Iran and Morocco, Silva says ”It was a very tough group and we need to minimize our mistakes – that’s the key. If in difficult matches we start handing out goals to the opposition, things are going to be difficult for us, so we need to tighten up our defending.”

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6:26 p.m.

Kylian Mbappe has scored twice as France tallied three goals in 11 minutes to take a 4-2 lead over Argentina in the World Cup round of 16 game.

Mbappe scored with a cool finish from a tight angle with a low shot past goalkeeper Franco Armani in the 64th minute. The teenager forward netted again four minutes later with some help from Olivier Giroud.

Argentina’s defense is falling apart and keeps getting caught on the break, having relinquished a 2-1 lead. M

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6:18 p.m.

French defender Benjamin Pavard has equalized with his first international goal to make it 2-2 against Argentina in the 57th minute of the World Cup round of 16 game.

Pavard launched a superb strike from the edge of the area into the top left corner after a cutback from Lucas Hernandez.

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6:08 p.m.

Lionel Messi has set up a goal for Gabriel Mercado to give Argentina a 2-1 lead against France just after halftime in the round of 16 game at the World Cup. The French defenders failed to properly clear a free kick, and Messi recovered the ball on the right side before unleashing a shot that took a deflection off Mercado.

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5:50 p.m.

Argentina has equalized against the run of the play against France to make it 1-1 at halftime in their round of 16 game at the World Cup.

France has been the better team and opened the scoring with Antoine Griezmann’s penalty in the 13th minute, but Angel Di Maria’s powerful strike from 25 yards in the 41st ensured the score was level at the break.

Di Maria was set up in front of goal following a throw-in on the left of a pitch, collected the pass and unleashing a left-foot strike into the top right corner.

France dominated the early exchanges and took advantage from the spot when Kylian Mbappe won the penalty after being fouled in the area by Marcos Rojo. Mbappe sprinted 40 meters and entered the box where he was clumsily stopped by the Argentina defender.

Mbappe has been a constant threat with his devastating pace and accelerations.

Griezmann put his team ahead just moments after hitting the woodwork from a 22-yard free-kick.

And after he scored, Griezmann made a shout out to millions of fans of Fortnite with his celebratory dance.

Lionel Messi has had only a few opportunities and has not been allowed much space by France defenders.

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5:41 p.m.

Angel di Maria has equalized for Argentina with a powerful long-range strike in the 41st minute to level the World Cup round-of-16 game with France at 1-1.

Di Maria was set-up in front of goal following a throw-in on the left of a pitch and he collected the pass and unleashed a powerful left-foot strike into the top right corner in the 41st minute.

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5:14 p.m.

Antoine Griezmann has given France a 1-0 lead over Argentina after scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute.

French teenager Kylian Mbappe won the penalty after being fouled in the box by Marcos Rojo. The Paris Saint-Germain forward sprinted 40 meters before entering the penalty area, where he was clumsily stopped by the Argentina defender.

Griezmann took the penalty calmly, sending goalkeeper Franco Armani the wrong way.

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4:45 p.m.

Argentina supporters have traveled to Kazan in large numbers and outnumber the French fans at Kazan Arena. As a result, the French team has been jeered off the pitch as it returned to the locker room after warming up for the World Cup round-of-16 game.

France and Argentina have not met at the World Cup since 1978.

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4:15 p.m.

France coach Didier Deschamps has reverted to his most efficient lineup, making six changes to face Argentina in their round-of-16 World Cup match at Kazan Arena.

Deschamps picked the same players who beat Peru 1-0 in their second group match in a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 system, with Olivier Giroud up front supported by a three-man line of Blaise Matuidi, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe.

France will try to stop Lionel Messi with Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane and Lucas Hernandez, who know the Argentine playmaker very well from the Spanish league. Benjamin Pavard completes France’s back-four.

Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli made one change – forward Cristian Pavon starting in place of Gonzalo Higuain – from the 2-1 win over Nigeria that secured a spot in the knockout stage for the two-time champions.

Goalkeeper Franco Armani is making is second appearance for Argentina while Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero remains on the bench. France has not lost to South American opposition at the tournament since a 2-1 defeat against Argentina in a group match at the 1978 World Cup.

Lineups:

France: Hugo Lloris, Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe, N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Lucas Hernandez.

Argentina: Franco Armani, Gabriel Mercado, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ever Banega, Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano, Enzo Perez, Marcos Rojo, Nicolas Otamendi, Cristian Pavon.

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4:12 p.m.

The former captain of an Uruguayan team that reached the World Cup semifinals in 2010 is back and enjoying the tournament as just another fan in Russia.

Diego Lugano says ahead of La Celeste’s knockout game Saturday against Portugal that Uruguay is already a star of the tournament. The team hasn’t given up a goal and won all three of its group matches.

The former central defender was relaxing, playing pickup soccer and taking selfies on a beach in Samara.

And he isn’t dampening fans’ expectations: Lugano said this Uruguay team is strong enough to win it all.

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4 p.m.

Spain says some members of the World Cup squad have been screened for doping at the team’s hotel in Moscow.

The tests have been conducted a day before the team’s round-of-16 match against host Russia in the capital.

The Spanish soccer federation says players were asked to provide urine and blood samples to FIFA officials. It did not say which players were tested.

FIFA routinely screens players after matches but also conducts out-of-competition tests at team hotels and training camps.

Costa Rica complained with FIFA four years ago in Brazil when several of its players were called up for doping tests after a match, saying it unfairly raised suspicion about Costa Rican players.

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3:50 p.m.

Fox will wind up calling 31 of the 64 World Cup games from stadiums and the rest from its Los Angeles studios.

The network announced its schedule for the round of 16, which has the lead team of John Strong and Stuart Holden broadcasting Uruguay-Poland, Brazil-Mexico and Sweden-Switzerland on site.

JP Dellacamera and Tony Meola will be at France-Argentina and Belgium-Spain.

Three matches will be called from Los Angeles. Derek Rae and Aly Wagner have Spain-Russia and Colombia-England, and Mark Followill and Warren Barton will broadcast Croatia-Denmark

All games from the quarterfinals on will be called from on site.

The Strong-Holden and Dellacamera-Meola teams called nine games each during the group stage. Rae-Wagner had 10, Followill-Barton nine, Glenn Davis-Cobi Jones seven and Jorge Perez-Navarro and Mariano Trujillo four.

Telemundo Deportes, part of Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal Inc., will call at least 36 matches from stadiums. It had commentators on site for 23 group-stage matches and called the remainder from the International Broadcast Center outside Moscow. It planned to have broadcasters at five round-of-16 games and the remainder from the IBC. Crews will be at stadiums from the quarterfinals on.

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3:30 p.m.

Russia winger Denis Cheryshev says he feels calm as he prepares to play for the country of his birth against the country where he grew up.

Cheryshev was born in Russia but spent almost all his life in Spain after his father Dmitry, also a professional footballer, played and coached at a succession of Spanish clubs.

Speaking Russian with a slight Spanish accent, Cheryshev says ”we are very relaxed and ready to do a good job.”

He sees Russia as the clear underdog for Sunday’s game in Moscow, adding that Spain is ”close to being the best, but any team can hurt another.”

Russia and Spain played out a 3-3 draw in a friendly in November but coach Stanislav Cherchesov says Spain’s tactics have changed since then, particularly since Spain fired coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup and appointed Fernando Hierro.

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3 p.m.

Switzerland forward Breel Embolo is back in Russia after returning home to attend the birth of his first child.

The Swiss football federation says Embolo spent ”the most beautiful 24 hours of his life” getting home in time to see his daughter, Naylia, born.

Embolo says ”the timing was perfect” to be with his partner Naomi.

The 21-year-old forward played the full 90 minutes Wednesday evening in Nizhny Novgorod, where Switzerland drew 2-2 with Costa Rica.

Switzerland next plays Tuesday, against Sweden in the round of 16.

England midfielder Fabian Delph has also returned home between the group stage and first knockout round to attend a birth. England plays Colombia in Moscow on Monday.

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1:35 p.m.

Mexican players are insisting they’re relaxed ahead of their clash with Brazil in the round of 16 in the World Cup – now they seem to be proving it.

Ahead of Monday’s win-or-go-home game against the Brazilians in Samara, several members of Mexico’s team and even coach Juan Carlos Osorio took some time off to go sightseeing at Red Square.

Captain Andres Guardado along with his wife and son Maximo, defenders Jesus Gallardo and Edson Alvarez, midfielder Javier Aquino, striker Raul Jimenez and Osorio spent several hours Friday in downtown Moscow.

It’s Mexico’s seventh straight chance to qualify for the quarterfinals for the first time since hosting the World Cup in 1970 and 1986.

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12:51 p.m.

John Stones is back in training with England, two days after coming off at halftime of the 1-0 loss to Belgium at the World Cup because of a calf problem.

The center back was among the 21 players practicing in light rain Saturday at England’s training base just outside St. Petersburg.

Stones was pictured on the England bench with heavy strapping and ice around his left calf during the second half of the game against Belgium on Thursday.

The only absentees from training were Fabian Delph, who was back in England to be with his wife ahead of the birth of their third child, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who had a conditioning session back at the team hotel.

England plays Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday.

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