France scored twice in the final 11 minutes in Brasilia to beat Nigeria and reach the World Cup quarter-finals.Nigeria's Emmanuel Emenike had a strike ruled out for offside before Vincent Enyeama saved Paul Pogba's volley.
Victor Moses cleared Karim Benzema's shot off the line after the break and Yohan Cabaye volleyed against the bar as France pressed. But Pogba eventually headed in after an Enyeama error and Joseph Yobo diverted Mathieu Valbuena's cross into the net.
France will play the winners of Monday's late match between Algeria and Germany in the last eight at the Maracana on Friday. The final scoreline was harsh on Nigeria, who dominated for large parts of the second half, but late mistakes from their tiring players ensured they will have to wait for their first quarter-final appearance in a World Cup.
France have pedigree in the knockout rounds, having reached at least the semi-finals on the last five occasions they have progressed past the first round at the World Cup. Nigeria's last-16 preparations had been disrupted by a row over bonuses and, with their group victory over Bosnia-Hercegovina their only World Cup win in 11 matches, this tie was always going to prove a big ask.
But, attacking with pace down the wings through both Moses and Ahmed Musa, the Super Eagles looked threatening early on. Only a flag for offside denied the powerful Emenike the opener, when he tapped home Musa's cross.
Nigeria's goalkeeper Enyeama made the most saves of any goalkeeper in the group phase and had to be alert again to keep out Pogba's fierce close-range volley as the play swept from end to end in a first half that saw both sides look vulnerable defensively.
Juventus's Pogba was being afforded a lot of space but, as was the case all over the pitch, the final ball was all too often wasteful, with Mathieu Debuchy's shot wide the only other notable attempt in a half that promised more than it delivered. The African champions were forced into a change before the break when influential midfielder Ogenyi Onazi was injured by a late tackle from Blaise Matuidi, who was lucky to escape with only a yellow card.
Source:BBC
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