The first World Cup quarter-final sees France and Germany rekindle old rivalries at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
Much of the historical focus ahead of another knockout contest between two European heavyweights on the grandest of football stages has centred on an infamous encounter from 1982.
Harald Schumacher’s reckless challenge on Patrick Battiston, which went unpunished, has never been forgotten by Les Bleus, with their defender left concussed and missing several teeth before they were overcome in a penalty shoot-out.
Jamie Redknapp's previews the World Cup quarter-final clash between France and Germany.
Four years later, West Germany once again came out on top to secure back-to-back final appearances.
Some 56 years have now passed since France last beat Germany in a World Cup contest, so they will be feeling that success is long overdue.
They have topped their group and edged out Nigeria to make it this far and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris says the class of 2014 are approaching each passing fixture with ‘sheer enjoyment’, as opposed to dwelling on the past and becoming bogged down by the fear of failure.
He said: "We are not afraid of anything - we know full well that in one match just about anything is possible including for this to be our last one in the World Cup.
"But there is no fear, it's a real pleasure, a sheer joy to play Germany. We want to win this match for our friends, our families, for France!
Opta stats
- There have been 17 goals scored in the three previous World Cup meetings between France and Germany, an average 5.7 goals per game.
- The two sides last met in a friendly in February 2013. France took the lead through a Mathieu Valbuena strike in the first half, before second half goals from Thomas Müller and Sami Khedira secured the victory for Germany.
- Germany have reached the semi-finals of the last three World Cups. No nation has ever made the last four in four successive tournaments.
- All of France’s goals during this World Cup have come from inside the box (10).
"There is a long history between both nations but as far as we are concerned we live for the present moment, we want to write our own history."
Coach Didier Deschamps added on the challenges now facing his side: "We have played a very good World Cup and we will have a major opponent in Germany who is used to these situations.
"They always seem to get to the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final so are more experienced.
"Our strong points are that our players are very competitive and some play for major European clubs at a top level so we have had to make them more united.
“The fact that you are in the French team means you have duties and responsibilities and the spirit has been very high since the beginning of our preparation period.
"There is no pressure on the players, history is what has been and gone and tomorrow we will maybe write a new page in history."
Deschamps has Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho fit again and that might mean Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny is likely to lose his place in the starting line-up despite some good performances.
Another Arsenal player, Olivier Giroud, may also start on the bench after his partnership with Karim Benzema failed to spark against Nigeria.
France looked much more incisive when Real Sociedad's Antoine Griezmann came on for Giroud and played on the left, allowing Benzema to push forward, and that is likely to be Deschamps' plan for the start against Germany.
Low said some of his players had "throat aches" but added: "It's too early to make any final decisions about the line-up.”Germany coach Joachim Low has seen his preparations hampered by a flu bug spreading through his squad, with several players affected, but has sought to play down the impact it will have come match day.
Christoph Kramer and Mats Hummels had the bug earlier this week, with the latter missing the last 16 victory over Algeria as a result.
The Germans believe being exposed to air conditioning for long periods of time, plus the different climates they have been exposed to, have not helped.
They have played in severe heat, heavy rain and then almost wintery conditions in Porto Alegre.
But Low said: "It's not all that bad at the moment. I don't want to dramatise it."
Paul Merson’s prediction
Germany are a little bit tika-taka, a little bit Spain, and I’m not sure about them. I know Thomas Muller is one of the top scorers in the competition, but can you really win it with a makeshift centre-forward? I’m not sure you can when push comes to shove. Algeria were bang unlucky in the last round and if they had anything about them at the start of the game then they could have been out of sight. They could have been at least 2-0 up, but in the end Germany came good.
I like France’s midfield, where Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi are very strong and both Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud have done well up front. The only thing I would ask about France is who have they played? They haven’t had the hardest run to the quarter-finals and sooner or later they will hit a big team. There’s not much between these two, but it’s hard to go against the Germans in tournament football and I will just go for them because France haven’t had enough hard games.
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