Mbappé will face France through Paraguay in the quarter finals of the World Cup 2026 World Cup

For this event, France kept the champagne ball on ice. Which might be a good thing, given the temperature. With Philadelphia busy on Independence Day, the World Cup favorites have been forced to drop down a gear or two but they still have too much for a Paraguay team that was determined to fight but ultimately became boring.

In the records of the matches between France and Paraguay this was more France 98 than Sweden 58, where Just Fontaine decorated his World Cup record with a hat-trick. Les Bleuss‘ Today’s goal machine, Kylian Mbappé, only had to face one, a penalty, to re-equal Lionel Messi in the race for the golden boot, but one behind the great man in terms of the all-time goalscoring record.

This was undoubtedly a great event. And on the semiquincentennial anniversary of the US declaration of independence, there was no way Philadelphia wouldn’t remember the moment. The celebration was predictably beautiful, with the stars and stripes given on the pitch, choreographed dancing and singing by the boys’ choir America the Beautiful. This being Philly, local rap stars the Roots also did a quick set and a band member jumped in the sweltering heat while playing the French horn.

Rap in 100 degrees fahrenheit – 38C – is possible, it seems, but playing football is a big challenge. A game that could have ended like a cat chasing a mouse was made even better because neither team was able to chase. France won the first half; as they returned to play after the opening, needed hydration break they had 208 Paraguay 33 passes. Those passes were almost always in front of the Paraguayan defenders, however, as France looked to let the ball do the work on their behalf.

It was a long-term bet, a prediction that Paraguay would not be able to close all the gaps during the match. At the same time, the questions asked of Gustavo Alfaro’s men in the opening 45 minutes were not exactly clear. France’s closest approach caused real uncertainty in Paraguay’s defense until the 35th minute when Michael Olise’s free-kick was deflected by Gustavo Velázquez.

To do well in Paraguay, they didn’t look like they signed up to be drummed into submission. They were united, organized and had a lively spirit that only wanted to frustrate and annoy the French at any opportunity. This applies to none other than Julio Enciso, who is Paraguay’s lone player in a 5-4-1 formation. With spaces of up to 40 yards between him and any midfield support, it was the former Brighton man’s job to harass the French off the ball and, with it, tempt them to the test. He was very successful in his role.

When the subjects reappeared after 15 minutes of air conditioning, the shadow had taken over most of the pitch and the temperature had mercifully dropped by a few degrees. You could see, no doubt helped by the words of Didier Deschamps, in France at half-time when they started the game at a fast pace.

In the 55th minute they scored their first goal, a long range effort from Manu Koné that was saved by Orlando Gill. But there was little way into the Paraguayan area, and after a succession of long-range efforts failed, Deschamps did, removing Bradley Barcola after wasting an opportunity on the hour, and replacing him with Désiré Doué.

There was a désiré-d effect. Positioned on the left, Doué quickly began to take over Paraguay’s defense and you can now see the impact on the South Americans of the rush hour. In the 64th minute, Doué received the ball and went straight into the box. He scored one, scored two and the third was dropped by Diego Gómez. Uzbekistan’s Ilgiz Tantashev didn’t initially call it wrong but, in the end, the video assistant referee had other ideas.

After visiting the keeper Tantashev reassessed his position and was awarded a spot-kick. Dembele caught the ball to protect it but there was no doubt that it was on the player. After Tantashev reset the post following a narrow dig from the Paraguayan, Mbappé stepped up, sent Gill to his right, rolled the ball to the left and France had the lead they needed. They stuck to it without breaking a sweat, or at least it could have been the other way around.