The moment Kylian Mbappe rose above Paraguay's dark arts as France fight to make World Cup quarter-finals

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Kylian Mbappe held his nerve for his second-half penalty for France against Paraguay. The Real Madrid striker ignored attempts from his opponents to disrupt his preparation for the spot-kick, and delivered the winning blow.

Kylian Mbappe

Image credit: Getty Images

France won 1-0 against Paraguay in boiling Philadelphia on Saturday, progressing to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup.

The game was a classic mismatch of quality and style, as Paraguay’s less famous names looked to level up the encounter with some underhand approaches.

The South American team pushed their luck with the refereeing with some heavy challenges, and also showed limited ambition as they looked to make the most of the odd chance and hold their own in defence.

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France, meanwhile, cut frustrated figures and were left unimpressed by what they saw as an overly physical approach to the game, and some lax officiating that did not curb Paraguay’s strategy.

Andres Cubas and Juan Jose Caceres might both have been booked for fouls on Adrien Rabiot and Mbappe respectively, and not one of the Paraguayan players was shown a yellow card during the encounter.

In the same match, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and Manu Kone were all booked for the French side.

Gabriel Avalos' elbow in the stomach of Dayot Upamecano also went unpunished, drawing ire from the French bench and surprise from many observers.

The only goal in the game came 20 minutes from the end. Diego Gomez tripped Desire Doue in the penalty area. The referee, Uzbekistan’s Ilgiz Tantashev, reviewed the foul on a pitchside monitor, and gave France a spot-kick.

That triggered a concerted approach from the Paraguayans to disrupt.

Defender Gustavo Velazquez walked up behind Ousmane Dembele, who stood over the penalty spot.

He scuffed his boot over the spot, seemingly attempting to prevent the ball from properly sitting and hampering Mbappe when he came to attempt a clean strike on the ball.

However, Mbappe would not be distracted, and he fired in his penalty calmly to the right after a stuttering run-up sent the keeper in the opposite direction.

Velazquez would again make his presence felt after the match when he was part of a confrontation between the two groups of players.

For Mbappe, it was his seventh goal of the tournament so far, bringing him level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

After the match, the Real Madrid striker gave his opinion on the tactics used by his opponents, saying: ”We know how to play ugly football. They thought we’d show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even at that game, we were better than them.”

His national team head coach, Didier Deschamps, was left unimpressed by the opposition, adding: "There were some insults from the other bench we could have done without."

France will play Morocco in the first of the World Cup quarter-finals in Boston on Thursday.

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