Kylian Mbappé insisted France were ready for a fight “no matter the style” after his second‑half penalty secured a bruising 1–0 win over Paraguay in a sweltering Philadelphia furnace, booking a World Cup quarter‑final showdown with Morocco.
“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,” Mbappé said afterward. “They thought we would turn up in tuxedos, but we were there. Even in that kind of game, we were better than them.”
France were forced into a last‑minute reshuffle when Aurelien Tchouameni withdrew with a muscle injury, yet they still controlled possession and absorbed Paraguay’s attempts to drag the contest into chaos. After a tense first half, frustration turned into urgency, and France began to impose themselves.
Paraguay, hoping to avenge their 1998 last‑16 defeat to France settled by Laurent Blanc’s golden goal stuck to a minimalist, disruptive approach. But their resistance finally cracked when Mbappé converted from the spot for his 19th World Cup goal in 19 appearances, ensuring there would be no repeat of Paraguay’s famous upset of Germany or Cape Verde’s near‑miracle against Argentina the day before.
France survived repeated attempts by Paraguay to turn the match into a scrap, wrestling control back each time and refusing to be rattled. The victory sets up a repeat of their semi‑final meeting with Morocco four years ago, with Les Bleus now braced for another high‑stakes battle.
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