![\"France's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-04T223540Z_1050135579_UP1EM741QRE27_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-PRY-FRA-1783205088.jpg\")
France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe scores their first goal past Paraguay\u2019s Orlando Gill from the penalty spot [Bill Streicher\/Reuters]<\/p>\nPublished On 4 Jul 20264 Jul 2026<\/p>\n
France needed a second-half Kylian Mbappe penalty to break down a stubborn Paraguay side, winning a niggly World Cup last-16 clash 1-0 to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Morocco.<\/p>\n
Paraguay\u2019s efforts to get under the skin of France\u2019s superstars worked for three-quarters of a game played in front of 68,324 fans in Philadelphia in heatwave conditions on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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However, the quality in the French ranks eventually shone through, with Mbappe converting from the spot on 70 minutes after Desire Doue was brought down.<\/p>\n
This was not an attacking masterclass by the French as they had produced in their previous games, but Paraguay did not allow them to play that way.<\/p>\n
It was very much a mismatch, though, with Les Bleus having almost all of the ball and Paraguay not managing a shot on target until the 90th minute.<\/p>\n
Mbappe\u2019s brilliant World Cup on a personal level continued as he rejoined Lionel Messi as the tournament\u2019s joint-top scorer with seven goals.<\/p>\n
The Real Madrid striker now has 19 World Cup goals in total \u2013 from 19 appearances \u2013 meaning he is just one behind Messi\u2019s overall record of 20.<\/p>\n
Didier Deschamps\u2019 team will now return to their Boston base to prepare for a last-eight clash in nearby Foxborough next Thursday against the Moroccans, who beat Canada 3-0 earlier.<\/p>\n
It was a sweltering day in Philadelphia, with temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) and extreme weather warnings in place in case of storms.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s last visit to Lincoln Financial Field, during the group phase, was affected by storms, as rain and thunder led to a two-hour delay during their 3-0 win over Iraq.<\/p>\n
This time there were no interruptions to a game played on the 250th anniversary of US independence, and in the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.<\/p>\n
A pre-match concert on the pitch featured a rendition of the US national anthem by the actress Idina Menzel, a performance by hip-hop band The Roots, and a US Air Force flyover.<\/p>\n
A fireworks display in the city to mark July 4 was not due to take place until later, and the anticipated French pyrotechnics on the pitch were contained for long spells by the Paraguayans.<\/p>\n
Ranked 41st in the world, Paraguay had ousted Germany on penalties in the last round and were aiming to claim another huge scalp here.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe scores their first goal past Paraguay\u2019s Orlando Gill from the penalty spot [Bill Streicher\/Reuters]<\/p>\n
They played with a back five, defended with a low block, and were quite happy to live up to some South American stereotypes with a cynical approach at times.<\/p>\n
That led to Mbappe\u2019s frustrations getting the better of him as he got involved in a shoving match with Andres Cubas. Moments later, Matias Galarza had a little lash-out at the France captain off the ball.<\/p>\n
France had practically all of the ball but struggled to do anything with it, being restricted to shots from long range.<\/p>\n
Manu Kone had one attempt deflected just wide midway through the first half and another tipped over by Orlando Gill not long after the restart.<\/p>\n
Paraguay\u2019s attempts to frustrate France were working, but the dark arts would only get them so far.<\/p>\n
While Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele were struggling to influence the game, Deschamps opted to remove Bradley Barcola and put Doue on the left wing in his place.<\/p>\n
That was just after the hour mark, and Doue quickly made an impact.<\/p>\n
When he attempted to dribble his way through a sea of Paraguayan defenders, he went down under contact from Diego Gomez. The foul was clear, and the Uzbek referee pointed to the spot after a review.<\/p>\n
Dembele protected the penalty spot as several Paraguay players tried to rough it up. Mbappe then stepped forward and slotted in.<\/p>\n
Having won on penalties in the last round, Paraguay\u2019s resistance was broken by one this time.<\/p>\n
It was not a vintage France performance, but Mbappe almost scored again in stoppage time, and they have taken another step towards their goal.<\/p>\n
In 1998, they needed a golden goal to beat Paraguay at the same stage of the competition. And they went on to win that World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 4 Jul 20264 Jul 2026 France needed a second-half Kylian Mbappe penalty to break down a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[527,43,44,457,41,39,42,40,772,1690,13010],"class_list":["post-781411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-football","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}