France suffered more than expected, but achieved its objective. The team led by Didier Deschamps defeated Paraguay 1-0 this Saturday in Philadelphia and sealed its qualification for the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup, where it will face Morocco.
The only goal of the match came in the 70th minute. Kylian Mbappé converted a penalty into a goal after a foul on Désiré Doué inside the area, breaking the iron defensive resistance of the Paraguayan team.
With this goal, Mbappé reached seven goals in the World Cup and equaled Lionel Messi at the top of the tournament’s scoring table.
Paraguay, led by Gustavo Alfaro, offered a very solid performance in defense and was close to forcing extra time. For much of the match, the red-and-red team neutralized the dangerous French attack made up of Mbappé, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembélé, responsible for most of France’s goals in the championship.
However, Doué’s entry changed the development of the commitment. The young attacker caused the infringement by Diego Gómez that ended in the decisive penalty converted by Mbappé.
Despite the elimination, Paraguay left a good image in its return to a World Cup after its absence since South Africa 2010. The Guaraníes had already surprised by eliminating Germany in the previous round and sold their defeat against one of the main candidates for the title dearly.
With this result, France keeps its dream of winning the World Cup alive and will now face Morocco in the quarterfinals, in a repeat of the semifinal played in Qatar 2022, which the French won.
