World Cup 2018 LIVE: France vs Uruguay and Brazil vs Belgium, plus latest news from England and Russia ahead of quarter-finals, predictions, updates
All the latest World Cup news from day 23 in Russia
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Your support makes all the difference.The quarter-finals get underway in Russia in what should be a thrilling day at the 2018 World Cup.
In the first match of the day, France return from their impressive last-16 victory over Argentina last week with a much stiffer challenge in front of them as they take on Uruguay Football in Nizhny Novgorod, with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.
That match kicks off at 15:00, but attentions will quickly turn to the day’s evening kick-off as Brazil and Belgium collide in a heavyweight encounter that could prove to be one of the games of the tournament. With the two winners set to meet in the semi-finals next Tuesday in St Peterburg, the stakes couldn’t be any higher.
We’ll also be looking towards England quarter-final clash with Sweden on Saturday, so follow all of the live action from Russia below.
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's World Cup live blog, where we'll keep you up-to-date with all the latest news from Russia as the quarter-finals get underway.
↵Blimey! That came around fast, didn't it?
We're at the latter stages of the World Cup now, with the quarter-finals getting underway later this afternoon starting with Uruguay v France.
Tomorrow is when we'll get to see England at this stage of the tournament for the first time since 2006, when they were defeated by Portugal.
Excited? I think so.
France blew Argentina out of the water in their last 16 clash with Kylian Mbappe stealing all of the headlines for his incredible display, netting twice and assisting once in the 4-2 victory.
But, as usual, their South American counterparts for today's quarter final continue to go about their business slightly under the radar.
Uruguay hadn't conceded a goal before they faced Portugal in the last round and apart from the blip with Pepe's header, it was another resolute, dogged and yet somewhat comfortable victory for La Celeste.
Our very own Miguel Delaney looked deeper into what it is about this Uruguay team that makes them so solid:
And yet, despite knowing all this about the Uruguayan mean defence, it's hard not to see Kylian Mbappe causing some kind of serious danger.
He's got blistering pace, fabulously quick feet and, and a youthful pomp and arrogance.
I'm sure Godin and co. will be doing their all to disrupt his and France's rhythm but if they give him even a sniff of goal, expect the net to ripple.
The Independent's chief football writer Miguel Delaney revels in the star prodigy's potential here:
Okay, one more on the France game this afternoon but it concerns their coach, and somewhat enigma: Didier Deschamps.
Les Bleus' manager, despite guiding his side to the European Championship's final and now the quarter-final of the World Cup, is still much disliked over the channel.
Tim Rice has more on the subject:
Is there a team that you can think of that any more than Uruguay that exemplifies the phrase:
"Each game is a cup final."
If you can think of one, tell me.
Moving on to this evening's quarter final and there's a mouth-watering prospect as tournament favourites Brazil take on the golden generation of Belgium.
It is a match-up rife with star quality, an abundance of players who play in the upper echelons of league football and strength in depth.
The South Americans actually pose the meanest defence in the tournament thus far while Belgium have scored the most goals.
Something has to give.
If Brazil and Belgium live their best lives for 90 or 120 minutes, we could be about to witness a genuine World Cup classic.
Jonathan Liew whets the appetite a bit more, here:
And Belgium boss Roberto Martinez thinks it's the game of the tournament so far...
We've had Spain 3-3 Portugal & France 4-3 Argentina.
If this proves to be the game of the tournament I think we'll all be in football utopia.
One of the bigger names taking the stage this evening will be Brazil's Neymar who made the headlines in their last 16 clash with Mexico because of his playacting despite scoring and assisting the other in Brazil's 2-0 victory.
And the PSG star will be looking to make the headlines again, but only for positive reason this time.
Our guest writer Frank De Boer discusses Brazil's no.10 and the pressures that come with being the most expensive player of all time.
Players don’t mind if one individual has his own style, like Neymar does, but he has to deliver.
Go on then, let's have a little delve into England news shall we?
Well, we'll start with a lovely and brief thread from twitter today with two fans sharing letters that Gareth Southgate wrote to them post-1996 European Championships.
Gareth can do no wrong.
Is he the Messiah?
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