Argentina scraped through to the knockout stage following a dramatic victory over Nigeria in their last group match, finishing as runners-up to Croatia.
Les Bleus, meanwhile, came top of Group C after two wins and a draw but both countries have failed to light up the tournament so far.
Already qualified, France played out arguably the worst match of the competition so far - and the only 0-0 draw - against Denmark but all three group performances led to criticism in some quarters.
And Tottenham goalkeeper and French captain Lloris accepts his team will now have to raise their game in Kazan if they are to reach the quarter finals.
“This is going to be a big match, and a difficult one, we are going to have to step up our level,” he said at a press conference, broadcast by FIFATV on YouTube.
Pavon
“This is going to be a big match, and a difficult one, we are going to have to step up our level”
Hugo Loris
“We should go beyond our limits, have to be full of energy, bet on our collective solidity and use it all.
“There has been a lot of excitement because Argentina are a major contender, with great players and many supporters in the stadium.
“We hope to answer the call to continue with our adventure.”
With teams now having no margin for error in the knockout stage, when games could be settled on penalty kicks, Lloris is confident Les Bleus can produce the required focus.
“It should give us additional strength,” he added. “We should make all of the effort possible and leave the pitch without regretting anything because each pass, kick or throw-in may be the last in the competition.”
Argentina of course have arguably the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi and the Barcelona star showed signs against Nigeria that he is starting to fire on all cylinders.
With many of the predicted stars of the World Cup racing out of the blocks early in Russia, Messi missed a penalty in the draw with Iceland and hadn’t found the net until that game.
Lloris though feels France have their own potential match winner of their own in PSG forward Kylian Mbappe.
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He said of the 19-year-old: “Kylian has huge qualities and huge potential. He is fast, explosive and needs space, he will have that tomorrow, more than in the first three matches.
“He has the ability to make a difference in the great moments, I hope he does tomorrow.”
France manager Didier Deschamps, part of the national team which won the 1998 World Cup, gave little away on his plans to try to shackle the threat of Argentina’s talisman.
“Messi is Messi,” he said. “Hopefully we would like to mark and neutralise him, but we know very well he can make the difference with very little.
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“This is why he is different to others, because he is so unpredictable.
“There are several solutions to limit his impact, but also the rest of the Argentina team are very experienced – it is not built on Messi.”
France vs Argentina will be the first match to take place in the World Cup last 16 with the winners going on to face either Uruguay or Portugal in the quarter finals.
A win for both Argentina and Portugal would set up a mouthwatering tie that would put Messi with Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time and almost certainly the only time ever in a World Cup.
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