TEAM NEWS
France and Peru could name unchanged XIs for their Group C tie but Olivier Giroud will be hoping for a start after he was involved in the build-up to the winning goal against Australia.
Peru’s all-time leading scorer Paolo Guerrero could also earn a start in attack after coming off the bench in the narrow 1-0 defeat by Denmark.
Guerrero, Peru’s captain, had a 14-month drug ban lifted so he could play in Russia after the captains of rivals Australia, Denmark and France wrote to Fifa asking it to lift the ban.
OVERVIEW
France went into the competition as one of the favourites but they needed a late own goal to break Australian resistance in their opening game in Group C on Saturday.
Paul Pogba’s lobbed effort deflected off Australia full-back Aziz Behich after history was made with the World Cup’s first video assistant referee-enabled goal.
VAR penalised Josh Risdon for a sliding challenge on Antoine Griezmann and the Atletico Madrid striker scored the spot-kick before Australia equalised through Mile Jedinak’s penalty.
Peru’s World Cup campaign started with defeat against Denmark after the South American side has missed a penalty.
Christian Cueva’s strike flew over the crossbar – after another VAR-awarded spot kick – and that miss proved crucial as the Danes took the lead through Yussuf Poulsen, who had conceded the penalty.
Peru are competing in their first World Cup finals since 1982 and more than 40,000 Peruvians have travelled to Russia to cheer them on.
VIEW FROM BOTH CAMPS
France defender Raphael Varane: “Some things were not done that well [in the first match]. We know that we will have to defend with more intensity, but mostly defend together.
“We’re still at the start of the competition. We shouldn’t dramatise [the situation] even though we have to be aware of the things that didn’t go so well during the last match.
“We’ve made our assessments. We have talked among players. We’ve talked to the coach. We know where we want to go for the next match.”
Peru forward Raul Ruidiaz: “It was amazing to see a lot of Peruvians in Saransk singing our national anthem with passion. We know what this World Cup means to our people.
“Every time we go to the field, we leave everything on the field.”
Peru left-back Miguel Trauco: “We have to correct the details that cost us defeat. Our greatest confidence is knowing that we play good football, and we can match any team.”
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- France and Peru’s only previous encounter was a friendly in April 1982. The South American side won 1-0 at the Parc des Princes.
- The last South American team to beat France at the World Cup were Argentina in 1978. Since then, France are unbeaten in their last seven World Cup fixtures against South American opposition (W3, D4) with three of the last four games ending goalless.
- France have kept a clean sheet in each of their last six World Cup games against South American sides.
France
- After consecutive defeats against Mexico and South Africa in 2010, France are unbeaten in their last four group stage games in World Cup finals (W3, D1, L0).
- Antoine Griezmann has been directly involved in nine of France’s last 13 goals scored in major tournaments (World Cup and European Championships), with seven goals and two assists.
- Having become France’s youngest ever player in a major tournament in their opening match, Kylian Mbappe is also looking to become their youngest ever goalscorer in a World Cup or European Championships. (Currently David Trezeguet vs Saudi Arabia in 1998 – 20 years, 246 days).
- Should he make an appearance against Peru, Hugo Lloris will earn his 100th cap for the national team and will become the first goalkeeper to reach this milestone for France.
Peru
- Peru are winless in their last five World Cup encounters against European opposition (D2, L3), their last win coming against Scotland in 1978.
- Peru are winless in their last seven World Cup matches (D2, L5).
- They mustered 17 shots in their opening game against Denmark, but still failed to find the net in a 0-1 defeat.
Source: BBC News
