On a roll after three wins on the trot in the group stage, former champions France face fellow European powerhouse Spain in a potentially high voltage round of 16 clash, here on Tuesday.
The 'les Bleuets' have scored the highest number of goals (14) in the group stages.
They will, however, face their toughest test of the tournament in the form of Spain, the European champions, on Tuesday. Just five months back, Spain had beaten France 3-1 in the UEFA European U-17 Championships quarterfinals.
Star striker Amine Gouiri had given France the lead in that match before Mateu Morey, Abel Ruiz and Sergio Gomez had replied for Spain to register a resounding victory.
Gouiri has been in excellent form in the group stage in India and he is the current leading scorer with five strikes to his name. Mateu Morey, Abel Ruiz and Sergio Gomez are all in the Spanish side here and it should be an interesting tussle of supremacy between the two European sides at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium.
Their final match against North Korea showed their attacking frailties.
Iraq face acid test vs Mali
Margao: last edition's runner-up Mali will enjoy an upperhand over a gutsy Iraq in a tricky pre-quarterfinal match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, here on Tuesday.
The African side's speedy run down the flanks and stronger physique will pose a lot of threat for the Iraqi defence and it will be interesting to see how the lions of Mesopotamia, who will be playing without their star player and captain Mohammed Dawood on Tuesday, counter the Mali attackers. The biggest concern for Mali is their defence which was exposed by Paraguay and it is to be seen how the Iraqis take advantage of that.