10:35 pm: That will be it from us for this game. Remember, there is one more match left and it’s the big match of the day! Argentina take on Croatia in what might well be a must-win game for Lionel Messi and Co. Our live blog for that game is up and running here. Take care!

10:30 pm: A look at the stats from the game. Peru had more possession, completed more passes but the big-game experience was lacking, one thinks. Understandable, but that doesn’t make it any easy on their players who looked gutted at the end.

10:25 pm: Peru’s World Cup dream is over! They will have plenty of hearts from their performances so far but – not unlike Morocco – for all their attacking verve, they don’t have a goal

FULL-TIME: THAT’S IT! PERU ARE KNOCKED OUT, FRANCE ARE THROUGH!

94th minute: BLOCKED! It’s Giroud, with a late strike at goal but the shot is blocked and it’s a corner. That should be it, for real.

93rd minute: Massive roar from the Peru fans as their side win a free-kick close to the half-way line. The ball is lumped in to the box, the header is wide and it’s a goal-kick! That should be it, one thinks.

92nd minute: Oh dear, the goal kick is straight out of play. Poor.

92nd minute: France taking their time at the right touchline. In no hurry whatsoever. Matuidi takes a crack from distance and it’s a goal kick for Peru. Last chance saloon!

Into stoppage time, four minutes added on: France on the attack with the subs Dembele and Fekir combining to win a corner.

88th minute: Pogba substituted. Probably because of that yellow card. Nzonzi makes his World Cup bow.

87th minute: With all the excitement building, Guerrero tamely hits it straight to Lloris. Looked like he was more worried about keeping it on target than beating the keeper.

85th minute: YELLOW CARD for Paul Pogba and a free-kick from a central location for Peru. Too far for a shot though. What will captain Guerrero do?

After 83 minutes, France 1-0 Peru

Into the final 10 minutes (and less). France have taken Griezmann off as well and Fekir is on for the last few minutes. More of the same from Peru though, sustained possession in the final third but no end product.

75th minute: The goal-scorer Mbappe makes way for Ousmane Dembele. Mbappe had precious little to do in the second half but that is true for most of the French squad.

After 73 minutes, France 1-0 Peru

SIDE-NETTING! A lovely through ball through the right channel frees Advincula down the flank, and his cross is a bit heavy – Carillo goes up in the air and gets his foot on it, but it hits the side-netting.

Time running out for Peru.

After 68 minutes, France 1-0 Peru

France unable to keep possession in this phase of play and it’s all Peru. Once again though, for all their energy and verve, they are restricted to shots from distance. France holding tight at the back. Guerrero wins the corner and the noise in the stadium goes up several notches! “I could swear we were in Lima,” says the commentator. Foul from the corner though and France can breathe.

After 61 minutes, France 1-0 Peru

Peru starting to ask questions – a spell of sustained possession, meaningful possession. Advincula down the right, then Farfan down the left both great chances to put a cross in but the French defence able to clear. Carrillo gets a chance to shoot from distance but it’s over the crossbar.

56th minute: Oh, more great footwork from Pogba who has been a livewire in this match. Hernandez (the left back, mind you) does a lovely 360 and feeds Pogba down the left and he does a little stepover to win a corner. Comes to nothing though.

50th minute: OH CROSSBAR, PERU! What a brilliant hit by Aquino! Lets it rip from outside the box. Catches it sweetly with the outside of his boot, the ball swerves away from the goal, then swerves back in and hits the crossbar with Lloris beaten all ends up. Not quite Roberto Carlos, but that was some hit!

09:38 pm: A celebration we are likely to see far more often in international football. Kylian Mbappe, a star in the making!

48th minute: A break in play here as Umtiti goes down in pain, after a high challenge. Looks like it’s his thigh? Seems to be OK to carry on.

46th minute: Second half starts in Ekaterinburg. Two changes for Peru as Jefferson Farfan and Anderson Santamaria replace Yotun and Rodriguez. Peru will be knocked out with a defeat.

FIRST HALF ANALYSIS: Peru, as entertaining as they have been to watch, have played into France’s hands here. It’s great to see them play that attacking brand of football, but they couldn’t convert some of their early chances and ended up exposing themselves at the back to France’s wonderful attacking lineup, who have enjoyed the space they have been afforded. Pogba has been especially good.

Here are some numbers. Join us soon for the second half.

(Graphic: @FIFAWorldCup / Twitter)

HALF-TIME, FRANCE 1-0 PERU: Phew, a breathless first 45 comes to an end and France are deservedly ahead.

43rd minute: OH, CLOSE! Delightful football from France. This is champagne stuff now. Mbappe with a fancy back-heel to Kante, who combines with Griezmann and the left back Hernandez, the latter has a shot at goal which is blocked and the rebound goes wide. Would have been a fantastic team goal had it gone in!

After 39 minutes, France 1-0 Peru - Mbappe with a poacher’s finish

Peru come out attacking again. The goal was well-worked by France with a lovely Pogba through ball (he’s been quite brilliant so far) find Giroud in space down the left, his shot deflects off the Peru defender, loops over the GK and falls kindly for Mbappe who slots it into an empty net.

34th minute: GOALLLL FRANCE! Ah, young talent. Just as we were talking about his missed chances and losing possession, Mbappe steps up and scores a historic World Cup goal – the youngest ever Frenchman to score in the finals!

33rd minute: CHANCE FRANCE! What a delightful through ball from Pogba, to release Mbappe down the middle. The teenager perhaps tries to be a bit too cheeky and tries a back-heel – barely got a touch.

31st minute: BIG CHANCE, PERU! Lovely, lively play down the left flank results in Cueva finding himself in space and he rolls the ball across the box to his captain Guerrero who takes a lovely first touch to beat Umtiti and fired a shot away but it was straight at Lloris, who ‘De Gea-s’ it away to safety.

After 26 minutes, France 0-0 Peru

The match has settled down now after a frantic start. Being largely played out in the midfield as neither team can hold the ball for too long.

This is the view we were talking about earlier. Fascinating? Scary?

After 22 minutes, France 0-0 Peru

Nice ebb and flow to the game, as Peru start to find their footing again. Advincula is threatening with his pace down the right. A silly yellow card for captain Guerrero as he argues after winning a free-kick.

Arka Bhattacharya weighs in: “I think Peru are different from other underdogs at this World Cup due to the fact that they play to their strengths rather than try and nullify the opposition’s. They have pace to burn and will look to trouble Pavard and Hernandez.”

After 17 minutes, France 0-0 Peru

France are putting their foot down on the game now, back-to-back corners results in a Varane header going just wide! Few seconds later, Griezmann fires a powerful low shot after a good header from Giroud, the Peru GK awkwardly saves with his knees. All France at the moment, just as Matiuidi picks up a yellow card.

12th minute: CLOSE! Pogba with a shot from distance, it has a good dip on it, bounces in front of the Peru goal and skips just wide. The goalkeeper was scrambling there. France soon have a corner.

After 10 minutes, France 0-0 Peru

The game continues to be physical, and the referee is letting it flow for now. A chance for Griezmann as the ball drops to him fortunately down the right side, and his shot off the weaker right foot is not even close.

6th minute: First shot of the match is an ambitious long effort from their own half by Peru, looking to catch Lloris out – it sails over goal. Peru dictating proceedings here with France having to make a series of tackles deep in their own half.

After 5 minutes, France 0-0 Peru

Peru have started well here, pushing high up from either flanks. Their pace was devastating at times against Denmark but end product was lacking. Will that change tonight?

1’: And we are underway. France keep the ball well before Peru go on a break...

08:29 pm: Guerrero, who dominated the headlines before the World Cup, returns to the starting lineup and leads the side tonight. We are all set for kick-off!

08:27 pm: “When he’s not on the pitch, we can feel how we miss him,” is what coach Deschamps said of Giroud in the pre-match conference. No surprise to see him start him tonight. He’d be expected to be the focal point of the attack, bringing the pacy forwards into play from either flank.

08:25 pm: Peru players singing the national anthem has been one of the sights of this World Cup. Passion, unbridled.

08:24 pm: Alright, time for the national anthems...

08:20 pm: Away from this game for a minute... Iran may have lost their World Cup match against Spain on Wednesday, but there was a bigger victory for many football fans back home. For a large section of female fans in Iran, the match in Russia opened new doors, literally, as women were allowed to enter their national stadium for the first time in 37 years to watch the World Cup action on the big screen.

Check out photos from the historic occasion here.

08:14 pm: Just minutes away from kick-off now. June 21 has been a lucky day for Les Bleus. In 1986, Michel Platini’s France beat Socrates’ Brazil on penalties. Peru, meanwhile, are winless in seven World Cup games, leading back to 1978, when they won 4-1 against Iran in the group stage.

08:08 pm: There was more VAR debate in the Australia-Denmark game. Here’s more on that.

08:03 pm: Just a reconfirmation of the lineups, if you are just joining us.

FRANCE: Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernández; Pogba, Kanté; Matuidi, Griezmann, Mbappé; Giroud

PERU: Gallese; Advincula, Rodriguez, Ramos, Trauco; Aquino, Yotún; Flores, Cueva, Carrillo; Guerrero.

07:59 pm: Should France win today, as they’d expect to, a spot in the round of 16 will be assured. And the last time that France lost to South American opposition at the World Cup was in 1978, when a late Leopoldo Luque goal gave Argentina the win.

07:52 pm: The venue is Ekaterinburg Arena and this is the view from one of the stands, which has been built protruding out of the stadium... and not for the faint-hearted!

AFP image

07:49 pm: The only other meeting between these two sides took place on 28 April 1982, when the Blanquirroja won 1-0 in a friendly. Juan Carlos Oblitas, current sports director of the Peru team, was the goal-scorer on that day.

07:45 pm: Peru fans in good voice ahead of this big game for their side...

07:35 pm: Alright, teams are in. The big news... Olivier Giroud starts in place of Dembele.

(Graphic: @FIFAWorldCup / Twitter)

07:33 pm: Another milestone this World Cup.

07:30 pm: Alright, Denmark’s draw (which they seemed happy enough to take at the end of the match) makes Group C rather interesting. All four teams still in the fray.

(Graphic: @FIFAWorldCup / Twitter)

07:25 pm: It’s all over in the other Group C game of the day. The Socceroos played their hearts out but could not find the winner in the 2nd half. Denmark held on but need to do a lot better if they have to go far in the World Cup

07:20 pm: An interesting read this on one of the greatest women footballers of all time.

07:12 pm: Australia and Denmark, the other two teams in the group are battling it out in Samara, in a game that is tied 1-1 and it’s the Socceroos who are dictating the proceedings. Few minutes left, and an Australia goal will blow this group wide open.

Follow the live blog of that match here.

07:05 pm: In their opening match, mercurial France showed why it is so difficult to back them.

The game against Australia was supposed to help one of the favourites, France, make an opening statement of intent. Instead, they must be counting their lucky stars after they scraped through to a 2-1 victory over a gritty Australia.

On the face of it – World No 7 France have it all. In-form strikers, pace, guile, movement, a sorted midfield and some big-name defenders too. They qualified out of a group containing The Netherlands and Sweden and they did it in some style.

But if you were watching them take on Australia, their insipid style left a lot to be desired. Yes, Australia defended well and with a lot of disciple. They held their lines very well but France just didn’t have enough movement to trouble them.

This could be a worrying trend. In Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Greizmann, France had enough pace on the field but at no point did they look like they could stretch the Aussie defence. It really was a question of not knowing what to do with the riches at hand.

Read more here.

07:02 pm: Hello all and welcome to The Field’s live blog of France vs Peru – a Group C encounter that promises to be quite exciting, for a couple of reasons. One, France are in action – it’s always exciting to watch one of the favourites. Two, Peru showed they are a fantastic side to watch in the 1-0 defeat to Denmark and could well give France a run for their money.