France survives physical Paraguay test, advances to World Cup quarters with Mbappé penalty
A Kylian Mbappé penalty proved enough as France overcame a physical Paraguay side 1-0 in Philadelphia to book a World Cup quarterfinal against Morocco.
A bruising encounter
France expected a physical battle and got one. Paraguay set up in a deep 5-4-1 block and committed foul after foul, with Bradley Barcola later saying he had "never played a match like this, with so many sneaky blows, pushes in the back." The temperature in Philadelphia neared 40°C, adding to the strain. Despite the aggression, France kept their shape and conceded no shots on target, limiting Paraguay to just 0.15 expected goals.
Refereeing under scrutiny
Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev showed three yellow cards to French players, Barcola, Manu Koné and Michael Olise, but none to Paraguay, even after a Matias Galarza elbow on Kylian Mbappé went unchecked by VAR. William Saliba noted the inconsistency:
The decisive moment came when Désiré Doué, on as a substitute, was fouled in the box; the VAR intervened to award a penalty that Mbappé converted.The referee could have given a few yellow cards, that would have calmed them down a bit.
- Match begins in Philadelphia heat
- Barcola receives first yellow card for light contact on Caceres
- Doué replaces Barcola
- Doué fouled in box; VAR intervenes, Mbappé scores penalty
- France wins 1-0, advances to quarterfinals
Mental strength wins out
Players and coach Didier Deschamps stressed the importance of keeping cool. Rayan Cherki, who came on late, said the bench found it mentally draining. Mbappé was blunt about the approach:
France finished with three bookings but no red cards, a point of pride for Saliba.They thought we'd come to play in tuxedos, making nice moves, one-twos. We know how to play dirty football too, and even in that, we were better than them. If we have to get our hands dirty, we'll get our hands dirty.
Quarterfinal awaits
The 1-0 victory sends France into a last-eight meeting with Morocco. The performance was far from the fluent 3-0 win over Sweden in the group stage, but the squad took satisfaction in grinding out a result. Cherki summed up the mood:
On the refereeing, I have nothing to say, you saw for yourselves: how many fouls were there for Paraguay? 30, 40? And zero yellow cards. And that's fine. We're in the quarter-finals.
