By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
The group stage is over and now only 16 teams remain in the battle for global football superiority as the FIFA World Cup round-of-16 kicks off tonight with two titanic matches.
1998 winners France will battle 1978 and 1986 champions Argentina at the Kazan Arena in Kazan at 10:00 PM (GMT +8), the first game of the knockout stages.
France topped Group C during the group stage with a pair of victories over Australia and Peru and a draw with Denmark.
Argentina, meanwhile, almost did not make it out of the group stage after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Iceland which was followed by a humiliating 3-0 loss against Croatia.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi finally delivered for Argentina during their last game by scoring the opening goal against Nigeria as the South American giants pulled off a 2-1 victory to barely qualify to the next round.
The second game will feature Cristiano Ronaldo and 2016 European champions Portugal against former two-time winners Uruguay (1930 and 1950) at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi, Russia at 2:00 AM (GMT +8).
Portugal placed second in Group B after a 3-3 draw with Iberian rivals Spain, a 1-0 victory over Morocco and a 1-1 draw with Iran.
Uruguay meanwhile topped Group A by winning all their group stage assignments without conceding a goal.
The South Americans defeated Egypt 1-0 with a late goal in their opening match.
They followed that up with another 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia before thrashing the host nation Russia with a 3-0 win.
