Paraguay national football team vs France national football team: France battled their way out of a difficult match against Paraguay to secure a 1-0 victory on Saturday, setting up a World Cup quarterfinal matchup with Morocco. Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty kick in the second half. Mbappe’s 19th World Cup goal in as many games guaranteed that neither Cape Verde’s near-miracle against Argentina the day before nor Paraguay’s shocking elimination of four-time winners Germany would happen again, as France prevailed in a match that their opponents frequently drove into muddy seas.
France makes key change to starting XI
Despite Aurelien Tchouameni’s last-gasp withdrawal with a muscle injury, France looked prepared for the scrap, dominating the ball before turning frustration into urgency after the break to set up a repeat of their semi-final against Morocco four years ago. France made one change from the side who beat Sweden 3-0, with Manu Kone replacing the injured Tchouameni alongside Adrien Rabiot in midfield, while Paraguay set up in a defensive 5-4-1.
Goalless first half in a hot Philly afternoon
With temperatures reaching 39 degrees Celsius (102.2°F), France found clear openings hard to come by against a Paraguay side who defended ruggedly. Neither side managed a shot on target before the break, with Rabiot, Kone and Ousmane Dembele all trying their luck without reward, while Julio Enciso offered Paraguay’s lone threat at the other end.
Kylian Mbappe scores 7th goal to win for France; Equals Lionel Messi
For France, it was turning into a test of patience, but they pressed on after the interval and finally broke through when substitute Desire Doue, on for Bradley Barcola, was tripped in the box by Diego Gomez.
After a VAR review, referee Ilgiz Tantashev awarded the penalty and Mbappe coolly converted in the 70th minute, wrongfooting Orlando Gill for his seventh goal of the tournament, putting him level with Lionel Messi and one behind the Argentine talisman in the all-time list.
Paraguay turn aggressive in final minutes of the clash
Nerves crept in when Mike Maignan was finally called into action in the 90th minute, making his first save of the game as Paraguay, provocative until the end and hunting for fouls around the box, tried to turn the final minutes into chaos. France then faced another sweaty spell in stoppage time after Mbappe was denied twice in quick succession by Gill, leaving Les Bleus to close out the win the hard way.
Kylian Mbappe shares his opinion on aggressive football by Paraguay
“We knew what kind of match we were going to have. If we have to get our hands dirty, we can do that. We can play ugly football. They thought we would turn up in tuxedos, but we were there,” said Mbappe. “Even at that game, we were better than them. That’s their football — there is no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried to get at us that way, but we won.”
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
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