In the FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi-led Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal crashed out in the Round-of-16 last night, with France and Uruguay securing quarter-final berths. Last edition’s finalists Argentina were beaten by France, 3-4 at Kazan, thanks to a second half double from Kylian Mbappe, and goals from Antoine Griezmann and Benjamin Pavard. Angel di Maria, Gabriel Mercado and Sergio Aguero found the net for Argentina.
Later, in the other pre-quarterfinal, Portugal went down against Uruguay, riding on an excellent brace by Edinson Cavani at Sochi. Cavani headed the opener in the 7th minute, before Pepe made things square early in the second half. Cavani, then, sealed it for Uruguay with a stunning strike that curled past Rui Patricio in the 62nd minute.
Uruguay and France will meet in the quarterfinals on Friday.
In the two Round-of-16 games today, 2010 winners Spain will clash with hosts Russia, with Croatia taking on Denmark. The Spain-Russia match will be played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow at 7:30 PM, while the Croatia-Denmark clash will kick off at 11:30 PM at Nizhny Novgorod.