Volkswagen employees head home early to watch football clash with France

German fans are gearing up for the upcoming clash against France in the World Cup quarter-finals this Friday, including Volkswagen employees who can go home early to watch the match starting at 6pm (1600 GMT).

Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Volkswagen announced that it cancelled the late shift at its main plant in Wolfsburg so workers can watch the game.

The late shift from 2pm to 10pm was shut down, which means that around 4,000 workers can get off work early.

These hours will be taken from their monthly working time accounts.

Volkswagen is a major football sponsor and owns a team that plays in the Bundesliga national championships.

The German camp suffered a flu-scare on Thursday with several players reporting "sore throats".

Germany has won the coveted World Cup three times.

There are some scores to settle between the two countries with France having lost to Germany in two semi-finals in 1982 and 1986.