Will France continue their ten-match unbeaten run against South American teams in the World Cup intact against Argentina in the World Cup final today?

With Lionel Messi aiming to win his first World Cup title for Argentina in the World Cup final against defending champions France, it will be a tough task for the South American team to win the title in Qatar. While Argentina goal-keeper Emiliano Martinez slammed France forward Kylan Mbappe’s earlier comments on South American football teams, the fact remains that France have remained unbeaten in their last ten matches against South American football teams in World Cup hory. Here’s look at France’s unbeaten run against South American teams
France vs Brazil in 1986 World Cup
In the quarter-final played at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, Brazil ook an early lead with a goal from Careca in the 17th minute. France would score the equaliser through a 40th minute goal Michel Platini with the match ending 1-1 before going into the penalties. Socrates and Julio Cesar would miss the penalties against French goal-keeper Joel Bats while only Platini missed his penalty for France in the team’s 4-3 win in penalty shootout against the South American powerhouse.

France vs Paraguay in 1998 World Cup Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
It was not until 1998 that France faced a South American team in a World Cup encounter. Playing in front of home crowd at the Stade Felix Bollaert stadium, the France team faced a stiff resance from Paraguay, a team which had reached the round of 6 for the first time since 1986.France had their chances in the game but their efforts were thwarted Paraguayan goal-keeper Jose Luis Chilavert. With the match going into extra-time, it was a nervous time for both the teams with the Golden Goal rule being followed for the first time in World Cup hory. Laurent Blanc scored the winning goal for France with six minutes remaining to spark celebrations for France.
France vs Brazil in 1998 World Cup final
It was only the third time that France and Brazil faced each other in World Cup hory. Prior to the 1998 World Cup final played at Stade de France, both the teams had faced each other twice with Brazil winning in 1958 and France winning in 1986. Brazil coach Mario Zagallo named Ronaldo, who was reported to have suffered an epileptic seizure a day prior to the match hours before the final. France took the lead through a header Zinedine Zidane against Brazilian goal-keeper Claudio Taffarel before Zidane scored the second goal in an identical manner in injury time in the first half. Emmanuel Petit scored the third goal for France in injury time in the second half to set up a famous 3-0 win for France. It was also the first time that Brazil lost a World Cup match with a goal difference of three goals.

France vs Uruguay 2002 World Cup
Defending champions France needed to win against Uruguay in their second Group A encounter at Busan. With France forward Thierry Henry being sent off after a challenge on Uruguayan midfielder Marcelo Romero, the France team fought off constant attacks the Uruguayan forwards including a late save France goal-keeper Fabien Barthez off a Alvaro Recoba shot in injury-time in the second half. The 0-0 draw would mean that defending champions chances to stay in the tournament hung on a thin thread before they finished last in the group after a 2-0 loss against Denmark and Senegal and Uruguay playing a draw.
France vs Brazil in 2006 World Cup
It was the fourth time that both the teams faced each other in World Cup hory with France winning two times and Brazil winning once. In the quarter-final match played at Frankfurt, France dominated the first half before an unmarked Thierry Henry scored from Zinedine Zidane’s free kick in the 57th minute of the match. The score line remained the same till the end and France advanced into the semi-final.
France vs Uruguay in 2010 World Cup

Prior to the group match, both France and Uruguay had played a goal-less draw twice in their last two meetings. In the last five matches between the two teams, France had won only once and lost twice and the 2010 World Cup meeting saw both the teams failing to break the deadlock. The match ended in a 0-0 draw with Uruguay failing to win none of their 13 World Cup matches against any European side.
France vs Ecuador in 2014 World Cup
France would face another South American opponent in the form of Ecuador in their Group E encounter. France needed only a draw to top the group and as the match ended in a 0-0 draw, the France team advanced into the round of 16.
France vs Peru in 2018 World Cup
France forward Kylain Mbappe was playing in his first World Cup and the youngster would become the first teenager to score for France at either a World Cup or Euro match in the match played against Peru at Ekaterinburg. Mbappe scored the only goal of the match in the 34th minute after a rebound off a Oliver Giroud shot Peru goal-keeper Pedro Gallese.
France vs Argentina 2018 World Cup
With France facing Argentina in the round of 16 match at Kazan, all the focus was on French striker Kylan Mbappe and Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Antoine Griezmann scored the opening goal of the match through a penalty in the 13th minute after a foul over Mbappe. Angel Di Maria and Gabriel Mercado’s goals in the 41st minute and 48th minute would mean that Argentina led 2-1 in the match. Benjamin Pavard scored the equaliser for France in the 57th minute before Mbappe’s twin strikes within five minutes put France ahead 4-2 in the match. Sergio Aguero scored the third goal for Argentina in injury time to revive Argentina hopes before France won the match 4-3.
France vs Uruguay 2018 World Cup

With a spot in the semi-finals on line, France and Uruguay faced each other for the third time since 1986 at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Russia. France dominated the ball possession in the match with 62 percent of ball possession and goals Raphael Varane and Antione Griezmann saw the 1998 World Champions advancing into the semi-finals.