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Kylian Mbappe scored a 70th-minute penalty to send France into the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia, where temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius at kickoff. The win sets up a meeting with Morocco after France overcame a stubborn defensive display from their opponents, according to a match report from FIFA. Mbappe now has seven goals in the tournament, moving level with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race while leading on assists, FIFA figures show.
Paraguay committed 13 fouls to France’s 11 but received no yellow cards in a game that drew sharp criticism for the physical approach, ESPN data shows. Referee Ilgiz Tantashev faced accusations of leniency after missing several incidents and allowing Paraguay players to crowd him and scuff the penalty spot before Mbappe’s kick, a BBC Sport assessment found. The match came after Paraguay had eliminated Germany on penalties in the group stage, according to tournament statistics from Al Jazeera.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart described Paraguay’s players as “an absolute disgrace” in comments to BBC One, while pundit Micah Richards called the performance “embarrassing.” Pat Nevin, speaking on the same broadcast, said Paraguay employed “every single dark art you can use,” and Thomas Hitzlsperger labeled it “disgraceful… this is even worse.” France manager Didier Deschamps told reporters there were “some insults from the other bench we could have done without” and that Paraguay used “every trick in the book,” though he acknowledged their defensive strength.
Mbappe said after the match that “we know how to play ugly football” and that Paraguay “thought we’d show up in tuxedos, but we were ready,” according to the BBC Sport transcript. “Even at that game, we were better than them,” Mbappe added. Teammate Rayan Cherki noted it was “important to us to play a game like this during the World Cup – to remind everyone that the French team can play beautiful football, but can also go to war,” while William Saliba said the side had to “stay focused” against hard challenges and provocation.
FIFA statistics placed Mbappe’s goal as his 19th in 19 World Cup appearances, one behind Messi’s all-time tally. The penalty followed a foul by Diego Gomez on Desire Doue, confirmed by VAR after initial dismissal by the referee, The Guardian reported. Paraguay’s earlier upset of Germany highlighted their resilience, but the physical style in this match sparked debate across outlets including The Athletic, which questioned whether such tactics represented commitment or gamesmanship.
France dominated possession at 76 percent to Paraguay’s 24 percent and outshot their opponents with five on target to one, according to ESPN match figures. The result marked the fourth straight quarter-final appearance for France in the World Cup, a run that underscores their consistency in major tournaments, World Bank data on global football trends shows in a separate analysis of elite team performances. The game concluded an attritional contest that tested both sides’ discipline under extreme heat.
