Uruguay who won the World Cup in 1930 and 1950 will take on 1998 World Cup winners France in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday.

"We would like to replicate the success that we had achieved in the first half of the past century. We would like to regain the strong points of the Uruguayan football, but play in a contemporary manner," Tabarez told journalists.

He added that his side continued "developing as a team."

"I honestly believe that the best projects start from the necessity of solving problems. We started working eight years ago and will continue working and developing as a team... Uruguay have a passion for football, it would be a disaster if football was no longer played in our country," Tabarez said.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches being played in 11 cities across Russia.