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The Quarterfinals are upon us with two games today and two games on Saturday. With England securing their first ever World Cup penalty kick shootout victory, this tournament is wide open and clearly anything can happen. We have had 19 goals in second half stoppage time so far in this World Cup, in only 56 games played.
Uruguay vs. France
Time: 7:00 AM
Location: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod
TV: Fox Sports 1 (English) and Telemundo (Spanish)
Announcing team: JP Dellacamera and Tony Meola (English)
Streaming: Fox Sports Go and Telemundo Deportes
Uruguay has given up only one goal in the tournament. They have an extremely organized defense led by Diego Godín and José Giménez that keeps everything in front of them and tries to free up the attacking tandem of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani to create the one chance they need. They play like a tight knit team (more like a high-end Champions League club than a national team side thrown together for the summer) that has grown up together, and recently had a defensive unit age into their early prime right at the tail end of the offensive duo’s prime years.
France is pretty much the opposite. They are arguably the most talented team on paper in the tournament (though the two teams playing later today would like to have a word), led by a manager who seems to just put the best 11 players from France on the field and let them figure it out. Kylian Mbappé might be the breakout star of the tournament as the 19 year-old had a stunning hat trick against Argentina in France’s 4-3 Round of 16 win. But Paul Pogba is still key to all things that France does both good and bad; he and Antoine Griezmann still have not shifted into sync yet in Russia and how they play will likely be the key to if France is going to make another final or be yet another ultra talented team heading to the beach.
Brazil vs. Belgium
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: Kazan Arena, Kazan
TV: Fox Sports 1 (English) and Telemundo (Spanish)
Announcing team: John Strong and Stu Holden (English)
Streaming: Fox Sports Go and Telemundo Deportes
Brazil was the betting favorite heading into the tournament, narrowly edging Germany, and heading into the final eight teams they are still the favorites. Brazil was the only team to win their initial knockout round game by more than a goal, comfortably dispatching Mexico 2-0 to extend Mexico’s impressive streak of Round of 16 exits to seven tournaments dating back to 1994.
Casemiro, Brazil’s stalwart defensive midfielder, will be out for this match due to yellow card accumulation, but Marcello is looking to be back from injury. Fernandinho will likely slot into Casemiro’s starting spot and play a pivotal role in shielding Brazil’s backline from an extremely talented Belgian midfield.
Belgium performed one of the most notable comebacks of World Cup history as they were the first team to be down multiple goals in the second half during a knockout match and win the game in regulation. They went down 0-2 to Japan but scored three unanswered goals from the 69th minute on, including a dramatic stoppage time winner, to secure the win. The question today will be can Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and the rest of the Belgian attack create enough chances for to offset what seemed to be a leaky defense against Japan?