Patrick Vieira believes France are growing stronger as the tournament progresses after reaching the last 16 with a 2-0 victory over Togo.

Goals by Vieira - on his 30th birthday - and former Arsenal team-mate Thierry Henry were enough to send Raymond Domenech's side through to the knock-out stages.

"There is a great potential in this team and I hope this qualification will help us play more freely because we aren't bad," said Vieira.

"It took time and it was difficult but in the end we proved competitive and reached our first goal which was to advance to the second round."

Togo coach Otto Pfister admitted he was proud of the way his team performed against France despite the defeat.

He said: "We played really well in the first half. The second half was more difficult because we were confronted by world-class players and their class made the difference in the end.

"I'm not at all disappointed."