Russia 2018: Mbappe scores twice as France beat Messi-led Argentina 4-3

- Argentina have been knocked out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup championship by France

- Jorge Sampaoli's men were beaten 4-3 by Les Blues at the Kazan Arena to become the first team to seal their quarterfinal spot

- France will face the winner of the Portugal and Uruguay's clash which kicks off by 7pm this evening

France have booked their place in the round of 16 at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia after beating Argentina 4-3 at the Kazan Arena.

Didier Deschamps's men took the lead through an Antoinne Griezmann's penalty in the 13th minute after Paris Saint Germain striker Kylian Mbappe was brought down by Marcos Rojo.

Having scored the first goal, Les Blues became very comfortable in the game as they made their south American side chase the ball.

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But, none of their efforts could find the back of the net as Griezmann's free kick was denied by the wood works.

Jorge Sampaoli's men came back into the game with a masterclass from Angel Di Maria, who fired home a long range shot to keep both sides equal.

And few minutes after that moment, the referee signaled the end of the first half of the game, and on return for the second half, Gabriel Mercado deflected Messi's shot to beat Lloris as they took the lead for the first time in the game.

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However, not too long from that moment, Benjamin Pavard leveled scores for the French team with a screamer from 25-yard.

He was right in time to fire the second ball from Lucas Hernandez's cross as they return to the control of the game.

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Kylian Mbappe registered his name in the scores sheet twice within four minutes as his brace ensured the 1998 champions led the game with almost 20 minutes to the end of the game.

However, Sergio Aguero scored the last goal of the game but it wasn't enough to save the Argentines from crashing out of the tournament after heading home a superb Messi's cross in the game.

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And at the end, France book their ticket to the quarterfinals and they will battle the winner of Uruguay and Portugal clash which kicks off at 7pm this evening.

Meanwhile, according to stats, Kylian Mbappe is the first teenager to score at least twice in a World Cup match since Pele against Sweden in 1958.

Please read out live updates below.

Final whistle: France 4-3 Argentina

93' Lionel Messi with a superb cross connects perfectly with Sergio Aguero who headed the ball into the box.

93' Gooooaaaaaalllllll Sergio Aguero scores

91' Four additional minutes added to proceedings at the Kazan Arena

90' Di Maria with a fantastic dribble but his final ball was a waste in the 18-yard box

88' Two goals hero Kylian Mbappe gets a standing ovation as he leaves the pitch for Florian Thauvin

85' Messi with a half chance but his shot was too weak to get pass Hugo Lloris who is in goal for France

83' Antoinne Griezmann leaving the pitch for Lyon star Nabil Fekir

78' Good run into the box by Griezmann but Armani came out quickly to stop Griezmann for compounding their woes

'75' Pavon leaves the pitch for Meza while France substitutes Matuidi for Corentin Tolisso with less than 15 minutes left to play

73' Good counter attacking move from N'golo Kante but his pass to Mbappe was blocked by Otamendi

72' Blaise Matuidi gets a yellow and he will miss the next match should they qualify for the next round of the tournament.

68' Mbappe connected Olivier Giroud's pass and slammed the ball into the left angle of Armani's goal post

68' Goooooaaaaaaal Mbappe makes it four for France

67' Timely interception from Samuel Umtiti as he stops Pavon from connecting with a Mascherano pass on the right flank

66' Sergio Aguero comes in for Perez as Jorge Sampaoli fortifies his side's attack in the game

64' Goooaaaaaaallllllll Mbappe restores France lead

58' Goaaaaalllllllll Pavard equalises for France with a fantastic long range shot, game on

56' Griezmann almost grabbed an equaliser for France after Fazio gave a careless pass to his goalkeeper Armani but they were on time to avert the danger

54' Angel Di Maria saves Argentina from danger as he was tripped at the edge of his side's box to win a free kick and relieve them of pressure

48' Lionel Messi picks a second ball in the danger zone after Banega's free kick was headed out by the defenders before playing a low shot that got a little deflected as his side take the lead for the first time in this game

48' Goooooooaaaaaaaalllllllll Lionel Messi with a fine finish for Argentina but Gabriel Mercado had the last touch on the ball

47' Angel Di Maria wins a free kick for Argentina at the left wing of France box

46' Argentina take the kick off for the second half of this meeting as both teams have just 45 minutes to decide their fate in this competition

Half time substitution: Marcos Rojo goes out for Fazio

45' Half time here at the Kazan Arena and France 1-1 Argentina

45' Two minutes added to the first half by the match officials as France are trying to take the lead once again before the half time whistle but Argentina defenders have been keeping their shape well.

44' Argentina have suddenly woken up as they are dictating the pace of the game

44' France 1-1 Argentina

41' Goooooaaaaaaallllll Angel Di Maria equalises for Argentina with a long range shot

38' Pavon squares a superb pass into the box but it was intercepted by France defenders and they are on the attack against the south Americans.

37' Lionel Messi's penalty call was denied after being brought down in the 18 yard box

34' Otamendi did a fantastic job winning a duel with Matuidi at the left wing of Argentina's defence

31' Mbappe with another very good chance after receiving a timely pass from Pogba but his dribbles was intercepted

29' Argentina are left chasing the ball as France seem to be comfortable after taking the lead through Griezmann earlier in the game.

27' Antoinne Griezmann with a superb run into Argentina's box but his low cross was stopped by Armani who is starting his second game at this championship

22' Banega wins a corner kick for Argentina but the set piece was well defended by the French team

21' Paul Pogba failed to convert the free kick as his delivery went over the bar

19' Kylian Mbappe wins a free kick for his side at the edge of Argentina's danger zone after outrunning his opponents' defenders.

17' Tagliafico wins a corner kick for Argentina but the delivery was headed out by France defender

14' France 1-0 Argentina.... Griezmann scores for the French team

13' Antoinne Griezmann to take the kick for France and it is a goaaaaaalllllll

11' Kylian Mbappe wins a penalty for France after Banega lost possession of the ball

9' Griezmann steps up to take the kick but was denied by the wood works as the game stands at goalless.

8' Pogba and Griezmann standing by the ball as they prepare to take the free kick in a bid to give their country the lead early in the game

7 Lloris rushes out to save a long pass from the Argentines and quickly serves the ball to his player which led to Mbappe winning a free kick for France at the edge of Argentina danger zone

3' Matuidi fouls Lionel Messi in their half to win a free kick for Argentina as they have been in possession of the game

1' We are underway here at the Kazan Arena as France take on Argentina for a place in the quarterfinal stage of this year's championship

France line up: 1 LLORIS, 2 PAVARD, 4 VARANE, 5 UMTITI, 6 POGBA, 7 GRIEZMANN, 9 GIROUD, 10 MBAPPE, 13 KANTE, 14 MATUIDI, 21 HERNANDEZ

Argentina line up: 12 ARMANI, 2 MERCADO, 3 TAGLIAFICO, 7 BANEGA, 10 MESSI, 11 DI MARÍA, 14 MASCHERANO, 15 Pérez, 16 MARCOS ROJO, 17 OTAMENDI, 22 PAVÓN

Please read our match report below

- France host Argentina in the first FIFA World Cup round of 16 clash at the Kazan Arena

- Didier Deschamps men reach this stage of the tournament as Group C leaders, while Jorge Sampoali's men finished as second best in Group D

- Both sides will be meeting for the third time at the World Cup but will meeting for the fifth time in all competitions

France and Argentina kick off the 2018 FIFA World Cup knock out stage fixtures on Saturday, June 30 at the Kazan Arena.

The French national team qualified for the round of 16 stage after gathering seven points from three preliminary matches.

They opened their campaign at this year's edition of the championship with a 2-1 victory over Australia and also claimed a 1-0 win over south American side Peru.

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However, they were held to a goalless draw in their last group game by Denmark, who are also through to this round of the competition.

Didier Deschamps men scored three goals and conceded just one, as they kept two clean sheets in the process - a stat that pushes them as one of the favourites for this title at the end of the championship.

La Albiceleste on the other hand had to wait until the last day before they could book their spot in the knock out stage at Russia 2018.

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Just the way they did during the qualifiers that they had to bank on Lionel Messi's genius to power them to 3-1 win over Ecuador to reach qualify for this competition in the very first place.

Jorge Sampaoli began their campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against debutants Iceland.

And it became worse for them when they were humiliated 3-0 by Croatia in their second game, however, they managed to produce the result against Nigeria after beating the west African country once again by 3-1 to progress as Group D runners up with four points.

Meanwhile, according to a stats website, Soccerpunters, both teams have met four times - but two of their meetings were at the World Cup (1930 and 1978).

And the Argentines won all the games by a slim margin except for their last friendly encounter where they won by 2-0.

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30/06/2018 France vs Argentina 3pm

• 11/02/2009 France 0-2 Argentina (Friendlies 2009)
• 07/02/2007 France 0-1 Argentina (Friendlies 2007)

• 06/06/1978 Argentina 2 - 1 France (World Cup 1978 Argentina)
• 15/07/1930 Argentina 1-0 France (World Cup 1930 Uruguay)

However, both teams will be counting on the players to get them the result and push them through to the next round.

They also have array of stars plying their trades at top European clubs as France parade the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoinne Griezmann, Oliveier Giroud, Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembele and others.

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While Argentina will be counting on Barcelona star Lionel Messi to come to the part once again, and hoping that Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Ever Banega to assist the 31-year-old to bring glory to the south American team.

France possible line up: 1 Hugo Lloris, 2 Benjamin Pavard, 4 Raphael Varane, 5 Samuel Umtiti, 21 Lucas Hernandez, 13 N'Golo Kante, 6 Paul Pogba, 10 Kylian Mbappe, 7 Antoine Griezmann, 11 Ousmane Dembele, 9 Olivier Giroud.

Argentina possible line up: 12 Franco Armani, 2 Gabriel Mercado, 17 Nicolas Otamendi, 16 Marcos Rojo, 3 Nicolas Tagliafico, 7 Ever Banega, 14 Javier Mascherano, 15 Enzo Perez, 11 Angel Di Maria, 9 Gonzalo Higuain, 10 Lionel Messi.

Venue: Kazan Arena

Time: 3pm

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Legit.ng previously reported that Argentina left it late as they booked their place in the round of 16 in Russia 2018 after a 2-1 victory against Nigeria.

Goals from Messi and Rojo gave the La Albiceleste 2-1 win over the Super Eagles as Victor Moses' scored his first goal in the World Cup for Nigeria.

In the other game, Croatia defeated Iceland 2-1 to finish top of Group D.

Argentina will now face France in their next game at the Russia 2018 World Cup which is the round of 16 while Croatia face Denmark.

Russia 2018: Who Will Win The Match Between Nigeria and Argentina? - Legit.ng TV