Philadelphia, July 4 — France booked their place in the World Cup 2026 quarterfinals with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a spirited Paraguay side at P
Philadelphia, July 4 — France booked their place in the World Cup 2026 quarterfinals with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a spirited Paraguay side at Philadelphia Stadium, though the win was overshadowed by a chippy, ill-tempered contest.
Paraguay, who had stunned four-time champions Germany to reach this stage, set up defensively and frustrated Les Bleus for long spells.
Julio Enciso, Miguel Almirón, and captain Gustavo Gómez led Paraguay’s resistance, while goalkeeper Orlando Gill produced several key saves to keep the scoreline level deep into the second half.
The breakthrough finally came in the 70th minute. After a string of late, crude challenges on France’s attackers went unpunished by referee Tantashev, Diego Gómez brought down Désiré Doué in the box, and Kylian Mbappé stepped up to coolly slot home the resulting penalty past Gill.
It was the France captain’s 19th World Cup goal in as many appearances, and his seventh of the tournament — putting him level with Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race, ahead on the assists tiebreaker.
Mbappé almost doubled the lead in stoppage time, denied twice in quick succession by superb reflex saves from Gill, who was arguably Paraguay’s best performer on the day.
France dominated the underlying numbers, racking up 15 attempts and 66% possession against Paraguay’s five shots and just one on target, with an xG reading of 1.36 to 0.15 telling the story of a game France controlled without ever fully putting it to bed.
The match was also notable for its physicality, with several strong Paraguayan challenges — including repeated late fouls on Doué and Mbappé — going largely unchecked by the officiating, and a scufParaguay bow out with their heads held high after a second-ever run to the World Cup knockout stagefle breaking out after the final whistle involving Gustavo Velázquez, William Saliba, and Maxence Lacroix.
The result extends France’s remarkable run at this tournament — five consecutive wins at a single World Cup for the first time in their history — and sets up a mouth-watering quarterfinal against Morocco in Boston on July 9, a rematch of their 2022 semifinal in Qatar.
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