World Cup of Wines: What to drink with France and Canada's next matches

The Round of 32 matches are now well underway and will blend into the Round of 16 over the weekend.

With France and Canada in action on Saturday we thought we’d bring you our recommendations for their matches now and our pairings for the remaining wine teams (including England, Spain and Portugal) on Monday.

This round has also claimed a few more victims, with some of our wine nations falling by the wayside.

Germany: Despite many exquisite wine recommendations, Germany slump to another relatively early exit, this time against Paraguay. Don’t worry Riesling fans, you can always drink some from Alsace while cheering on France.

Croatia: A big wine clash with Portugal eventually saw Croatia succumb after a frenetic second half and a match with goals disallowed left and right. Hopefully readers made some wine discoveries along the way.

Austria: We said their game against Spain was go big or go home for Austria. And, well, they’re going home, but hopefully fans at least won in the wine stakes if they opened something suitably magnificent.

And if you feel the need for some… actual football analysis during this World Cup, do check in on our friends and colleagues over at FourFourTwo for all their updates and coverage.

Tina: Canada

Canada (vs Morocco): It’s a ‘home’ game for Team Canada at the Houston Stadium, hopefully packed out with enough visitors from the north to holler on their boys in red.

The other boys in red – with a green star, not a maple leaf – are ranked sixth in the world, and will be overwhelming favourites in this match up, no matter how inspiring the speech (or entertaining a goal celebration) from Canada’s manager Jesse Marsch.

Based on the kits, it looks like a red should be the wine choice, but I’m going for a crisp, herbal Cabernet Franc rosé to cool things down, both in the temperature stakes and the fiery on-field play.

Plus, it would be a great pairing for a classic chicken, green olive and preserved lemon tagine served with fluffy couscous.

The Fourth of July is America’s national day, but it comes only a few days after Canada Day (1 July), so maybe a victory in Houston is cause for united celebration?

Rupert: France

France (vs Sweden): After a scintillating performance against Sweden, France have become this competition’s hottest team and most talked-about team.

Now they face the surprise vanquishers of Germany – Paraguay – in the city of brotherly love (Philadelphia) in what will be sweltering conditions.

You, of course, may be a connoisseur of Paraguay’s distinct and varied cuisine, but many of us may find it easier to throw together a classic sandwich like the Philly Cheesesteak.

Sliced beef, some onions, cheese, throw it in a hoagie roll; make it fancy or keep it simple, add your own twist on the classic. But what to pair it with?

There’s not a clear answer here but something red and with the kind of silky oomph that Kylian Mbappé puts into one of his strikes from outside the box.

Cabernet Franc from the Loire would work well with its juicy red-black fruit and savoury touch, or perhaps head southwest and match with a more fruit-forward but still meaty Cahors Malbec.

But what about this Mourvedre-driven bottle from Terrasses du Larzac in the Languedoc.

‘Sweet-fruited, concentrated and endlessly fluid,’ wrote reviewer Natalie Earl, sounds rather like this French attack. Allez les bleus!