PHILADELPHIA — France sealed a return to the last eight of the FIFA World Cup, but only by the skin of its teeth.
Kylian Mbappe’s 70th-minute penalty kick propelled Les Bleus past Paraguay 1-0 on Saturday and into a quarterfinal date with Morocco on July 9. After outscoring their opposition 13-2 in their previous four victories of the competition, Les Bleus rolled up their sleeves and showed that they can grind out a victory to get the job done.
“We knew what kind of match we were going to have,” Mbappé said after the match. “I think that today [Saturday], the match we had, the way we played it, was very good. We showed that we’re not just a team that knows how to play attacking football. If we have to get our hands dirty, we’ll get our hands dirty, excuse the expression. We have no problem with that.”
Didier Deschamps’ squad were left frustrated by Paraguay in the opening 45 minutes, being held without a single shot on target. Despite attempts for Kouadio Kone and Mbappe, Gustavo Alfaro’s five-man backline were stingy, limiting Les Bleus to only half-chances and minimal scoring efforts.
Paraguay tried to do more of the same after the interval but eventually stated undergoing more pressure from France’s attack.
Orlando Gill denied Kone’s long-range shot after 55 minutes but the resistance was eventually broken with substitute Desire Doue putting Paraguay in a predicament. Doue cut onto his right foot in the Paraguay before going down after a knee-on-knee challenge from Diego Gomez and although referee Ilgiz Tantashev originally did not blow his whistle, VAR ruled in favor of a penalty kick.
Mbappe, overcoming several ploys from Paraguay players, stepped up and slotted home his seventh goal of the competition and 19th all-time in World Cup play, giving Les Bleus their single goal of the match.
The 27-year-old drew level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead this summer and remained one behind him for the all-time tournament lead. He also joined Messi as the only other player to deliver seven or more World Cup goals in two editions of the tournament.
Paraguay had chances in possession to try and tie things up, but couldn’t muster a single chance on target to force extra time.The aforementioned Gill was La Albirroja’s Man of the Match, denying Mbappe three additional times in the match to keep the defeat at a respectable one goal.
However, it was France moving on to Boston Stadium and Paraguay heading home after being shutout in a fifth-straight Round of 16 match. They had outlasted the aggressive play of the Paraguayans, kept their cool in several skirmishes, and eventually celebrated with their fans at the final whistle.
“Playing against South American teams is always tough,” France manager Didier Deschamps said postmatch. “Of course, things would have been more comfortable had we converted our chances on those last two occasions, but they try all sorts of tactics. Perhaps that wasn’t the reason, though.
“We didn’t lose our focus, but the physical nature of the game made it difficult, they were intent on defending well,” he added. Frankly, the heat took precedence over the intensity. And they defended well even without that intensity.”
Les Bleus registered their third shutout of the tournament with goalkeeper Mike Maignan showing strong hands on several crosses, free kicks, and corners. Although it marked France’s lowest scoring output in a single match this World Cup, they showed once again that Mbappe will get his chances and likely put one of them away to claim a victory.
July 9th’s France-Morocco showdown will be a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semifinal tie in Qatar that Les Bleus won 2-0 to reach the tournament final. It may not the Morocco squad from four years ago, but it will be France’s toughest test yet of the competition, one that may not be so rewarding as Saturday’s.
Source: Sbisoccer.com
