France will be keen to book an early place in the pre-quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup when they meet Peru, who are staring down the barrel of an early exit, in a Group C clash here on Thursday.
Live updates:
Minute 34 (GOAL!) —Mbappe scores the opener for France. Peru lose the ball in the midfield and Pogba passes it to Giroud who directs it to Mbappe. The French teenager then slides in and shoots. His shot takes a deflection off a defender and loops inside the net.
Minute 30 — Great save by Lloris. Guerrero receives the ball inside the box and takes a fine first touch to carve open the defence. He takes a shot at but it is well blocked by the French captain.
Minute 28 — France controlling the proccedings in the middle of the park. Mbappe practically jumps after Trauco kneads him in the back. No foul given.
Minute 18--France start to slowly control the proceedings as Peru look for counter-attacks
Minute 12--Pogba loses his cover and goes for a right-footed strike. The ball bounces off the face of Peru goalkeeper dangerously.
Minute 11 -- Giroud loses the ball in the final third and the ball deflects to Griezmann in the right inside channel. He shots the ball but the effort sails wide
Minute 2 -- Peru dominating the first few minutes with their players spending most of their time in the France half.
Peeeeepppppp!! Kick-off!
Line-ups out:
Oliver Giroud replaces Ousmane Dembele in the starting line-up and Matuidi will start in place of Tolliso in today's match against Peru while the rest of the starting line-up remains unchanged for France.
France vs Peru
France beat Australia 2-1 in their opening match last week, while Peru had suffered a 0-1 defeat to Denmark in their campaign opener.
Although the French won their opening game 2-1 against Australia, it was a far from a convincing display as their attacking trio of Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe too often looked isolated from their midfield. France scored from a penalty conversion from Antoine Griezmann and an own goal late in the game.Considering the abundance of talents available, France are expected to play fantastic and flamboyant football. But their forward passing was not good against Australia.
Head coach Didier Deschamps has to resolve this issue against a Peru side that was unlucky to lose against Denmark and who could go into the game knowing they need a win to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
One solution would be for Griezmann to drop deeper to link with the midfield, while the introduction of Olivier Giroud for Dembele would provide a focal point for the attack and allow Griezmann and Mbappe to use the full width of the pitch to allow France more fluidity.
"We took stock of what was done well or not so well and all agree that we will have to increase our physical intensity and improve our attitude in general," defender and vice-captain Raphael said.
"Other teams (among the favourites) did not win or even lost. We won, but we know that there are things to improve on. We know what direction we need to go in."
The midfield will comprise of Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante and Corentin Tolisso, while in defence, Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Hernandez are certainties. Right-back position will be a toss-up between Benjamin Pavard and Djibril Sidibe.
A win for France will eliminate Peru from the group stage since they lost to Denmark. A draw will keep their hopes alive as one point from Thursday's game will give them the confidence to defeat Australia in their third and final game.
However, Peru defender Luis Advincula is optimistic that a win is possible against France's strong squad. "It's going to be a tough match, we all know the quality they have, but we are eleven against eleven," the defender said. "There are no favourites in this World Cup, it's been shown."
Advincula and his fellow defenders, Christian Ramos, Alberto Rodriguez and Miguel Trauco will be tasked to stop of a fast-paced talented attack from France.
Captain and veteran striker Paolo Guerrero is expected to return to the Peru line-up after sitting on the bench during the game against Denmark. He will share attacking responsibilities with Watford's Andre Carrillo and Lokomotiv Moscow's Jefferson Farfan.
Christian Cueva, Edison Flores and Yoshimar Yotun will be expected to feature in midfield. Renato Tapia, who suffered an injury in the last match, is doubtful.
France National Team. (Photo: @equipedefrance Twitter)
France's 23-man full squadGoalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille), Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain)
Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Adil Rami (Olympique de Marseille), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Midfielder: N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Steven N'Zonzi (Sevilla), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)
Forwards: Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Florian Thauvin (Olympique de Marseille).
Goalkeepers: Pedro Gallese (Veracruz), Carlos Caceda (Deportivo Municipal), Jose Carvallo (UTC).
Defenders: Aldo Corzo (Universitario), Luis Advincula (Lobos Buap), Christian Ramos (Veracruz), Miguel Araujo (Alianza Lima), Alberto Rodriguez (Atletico Junior), Anderson Santamaria (Puebla), Miguel Trauco (Flamengo), Nilson Loyola (Melgar).
Midfielders: Renato Tapia (Feyenoord), Pedro Aquino (Lobos Buap), Yoshimar Yotun (Orlando City), Paolo Hurtado (Vitoria Guimaraes), Christian Cueva (Sao Paulo), Edison Flores (Aalborg), Andy Polo (Portland Timbers), Wilder Cartagena (Veracruz).
Forwards: Andre Carrillo (Watford), Raul Ruidiaz (Morelia), Jefferson Farfan (Lokomotiv Moscow), Paolo Guerrero (Flamengo).