Kylian Mbappe earned a penalty and scored two goals as France defeated Argentina 4-3 in a thrilling 2018 World Cup last 16 clash at the Kazan Arena on Saturday.

A three-goal salvo in the space of 11 second-half minutes saw ‘Les Bleus’ come from behind to defeat the ‘Albiceleste’ and become the first team to ink their name in the quarterfinal line-up.

France dominated the early stages and nearly claimed the lead in the ninth minute as Antoine Griezmann rattled the crossbar with a shot direct from a free kick.

Yet the French forward scored from a penalty four minutes late to put his team 1-0 up. The spot kick was awarded after Marcos Rojo had to resort to pulling down Kylian Mbappe to halt his powerful run.

The speedy teenager was a constant menace to Argentina’s defence, and Nicolas Tagliafico almost gave away another penalty for a foul on Mbappe – luckily for the ‘Albiceleste’ left-back the infringement was just outside the 18-yard area.

Yet while ‘Les Bleus’ always looked threatening in attack, Argentina gradually gained a foothold in the game and they were rewarded for their determination in the 41st minute, as Angel Di Maria scored from a fearsome long-range hit to make it 1-1.

The South Americans completed the turnaround three minutes into the second half. A free kick was only half-cleared and found its way to Lionel Messi on the edge of the box, he in turn sent a low shot toward goal, but teammate Gabriel Mercado redirected it enough to wrong-foot goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and put Argentina 2-1 up.

France nearly restored parity in the 55th minute when a mix-up at the back from Argentina almost let Griezmann in, but shortly thereafter a magnificent strike from right-back Benjamin Pavard – who struck a swerving volley into the top corner – made it 2-2.

This roller-coaster game took another twist in the 64th minute, as Mbappe picked up a loose ball in the Argentina penalty area and fired a low effort through the legs of goalkeeper Franco Armani to make it 3-2 in favour of ‘Les Bleus’.

Four minutes later France put together a superb attacking move which ended with Olivier Giroud’s deft ball putting Mbappe in on goal, and the 19-year-old coolly passed home a low shot to make it 4-2 and knock the stuffing out of the South Americans.

Argentina pulled a goal back deep in injury time when Sergio Aguero headed home from Messi’s cross, but it was nothing more than a consolation.

France saw out the remainder of the game to claim victory and book a place in the first quarterfinal match next Friday at Nizhny Novgorod against either Portugal or Uruguay.

France (1) 4 (Girezmann pen 13’, Pavard 57’, Mbappe 64’ 68’)
Argentina (1) 3 (Di Maria 41’, Mercado 48’, Auguero 90+3’)

France: Lloris, Pavard, Umtiti, Varane, Hernandez, Kante, Pogba, Matuidi (Tolisso 75’), Mbappe (Thauvin 89'), Giroud, Griezmann (Fekir 83’)

Argentina: Armani, Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo (Fazio 46’), Tagliafico, Perez (Aguero 66’), Mascherano, Banega, Pavon (Meza 75’), Messi, Di Maria

The 2018 World Cup’s knockout stages are set to get off to a thrilling start when France and Argentina meet in a last 16 clash at the Kazan Arena on Saturday, June 30, kick-off at 16h00.

France earned their place in the second round by topping Group C. ‘Les Bleus’ laboured to a fortunate 2-1 win over Australia, showed slightly better form in their narrow 1-0 win over Peru, and then secured top spot in the pool with a 0-0 stalemate against Denmark – the first goalless game of the 2018 finals.

Coach Didier Deschamps knows that his highly-talented team has yet to really ‘click’, but will hope that the challenge of facing South American heavyweights Argentina brings the best out of his players.

Argentina very nearly went out of the tournament on Tuesday night, requiring a late goal from Marcos Rojo to beat Nigeria 2-1 and advance as the second-placed team from Group D. ‘La Albiceleste’ started their tournament by drawing with Iceland and were then whipped 3-0 by Croatia to find themselves on the cusp of elimination.

Nonetheless, coach Jorge Sampaoli kept the faith in his team and was rewarded with a dramatic win over the ‘Super Eagles’. And although they have been far from impressive, the huge talent they have at their disposal means Argentina cannot be underestimated.

‘Les Bleus’ will need defenders Rapahel Varane and Samuel Umtiti to be at their best when they come up against Lionel Messi and his fellow forwards, but perhaps the key man for the French is Paul Pogba.

If the lanky midfielder can win his battle in the engine room against the likes of Ever Banega and Javier Mascherano, then it will lay the platform for forwards Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud to prosper against an Argentine defence which struggles against pace and movement.

In head-to-head terms, France and Argentina have met in 11 matches, according to FIFA’s statistics database. ‘La Albiceleste’ have claimed six wins compared to just two for ‘Les Bleus’, while three games have been drawn.

They have clashed in two previous World Cups: group stage games in the 1930 and 1978 tournaments which Argentina won 1-0 and 2-1 respectively. The teams’ most recent meeting was a friendly in Marseille in February 2009 which saw the South Americans claim a 2-0 triumph.

France v Argentina – head-to-head

Matches played 11
France wins 2
Argentina wins 6
Draws 3
France goals 7
Argentina goals 12