Nizhny Novgorod: France extended their stay in Russia after sending Uruguay home with a 2-0 win in the first quarter-final of the Fifa World Cup here on Friday.
Forward Antoine Griezmann set up a goal before scoring one himself in the routine win. Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's blunder after the break gifted France a second goal as well as the match.
Uruguay's famous fighting spirit was missing on a rather flat evening. The South American team missed the towering presence of forward Edinson Cavani who sat out with injury.
Neither team had done anything of note until Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane opened the scoring in the 40th minute with a superb glancing header off a floated free kick from Griezmann. The sudden burst of Varane caught Uruguay napping.
The brilliance of Hugo Lloris, the French goalie, prevented Uruguay from making it 1-1 almost immediately. Martin Caceres's header off a deep free kick was going towards goal when Lloris leapt to his right to stop the ball in the air. The danger had still not been averted but Uruguay's Diego Godin shot the ball wastefully over from two yards just before half-time.
Kylian Mbappe, who had destroyed Argentina in the previous round, was subdued all evening. He missed France's best chance of the opening half with a poor header despite being unmarked. But it didn't prove costly in the end, as Muslera spilled an innocuous Griezmann shot into his own net.
