Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani scored a superb brace to give his side a 2-1 win over European champions Portugal in their World Cup round-of-16 match on Saturday. Uruguay’s victory earned them a quarterfinal against France on Friday and sent world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo home after a subdued performance. Cavani put Uruguay ahead in the seventh minute when he evaded the Portugal defence to meet Luis Suarez’s pinpoint cross with a bullet header at the far post. Pepe headed Portugal level in the 55th minute, the first goal Uruguay have conceded in the tournament. But Uruguay regained the lead seven minutes later when Rodrigo Bentancur found Cavani and he curled a brilliant first-time shot past Rui Patricio from the edge of the penalty area. Mbappé on the spotlight Teenager Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in four minutes to send France charging into the World Cup quarterfinals and Lionel Messi home with a thrilling 4-3 win over Argentina on Saturday. The 19-year-old forward’s electric pace caused Argentina problems all afternoon and his twin strikes helped France overturn a 2-1 deficit and set up a quarterfinal date with Portugal or Uruguay, who play later on Saturday. While Mbappe was the most influential player on the pitch, Argentina’s Angel Di Maria and France full back Benjamin Pavard fought out a private contest for the best goal of the contest with two magnificent long-range strikes. Di Maria’s goal cancelled out Antoine Griezmann’s early penalty to put Argentina on equal terms just before the break, while Pavard’s in the 57th minute levelled up the scores at 2-2 after Argentina had gone ahead through Gabriel Mercado. Mbappe, the first teenager since Brazilian great Pele in the 1958 final to score two goals in one World Cup match, then took over to send Argentina slumping out of the finals before the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2002. After their respective victories over Argentina and Portugal on Saturday, France and Uruguay will meet in the round of last eight on July 6, at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Agencies
