France are through to the World Cup quarter-finals after beating Paraguay 1-0, with Kylian Mbappe scoring the decisive penalty in the 70th minute. The result sends Les Bleus into a last-eight meeting with Morocco.
The key moment came after Desire Doue, introduced from the bench, was brought down by Diego Gomez. Referee Ilgiz Tantashev initially did not award a spot-kick, but changed the decision after reviewing the incident on the pitch-side monitor.
Paraguay made France work through a tense, physical match in Philadelphia, where the attendance was listed at 68,324. The South American side, who had previously knocked out Germany, defended deep and disrupted France’s rhythm, while Orlando Gill later denied Mbappe a second goal with a stoppage-time double save.
Mbappe’s goal also moved him level with Lionel Messi on seven World Cup goals. For France, the win was less about attacking fluency than control under pressure, and the next test against Morocco will ask whether Didier Deschamps’ side can turn survival-style knockout football into another deep tournament run.
Discussion
Sign in to join the discussion.
Sign in / Register