Mbappé Penalty Sends France Past Paraguay And Into World Cup Quarterfinals
Les Bleus edge tough Paraguay 1-0 at Lincoln Financial Field
France are through to the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Paraguay at Lincoln Financial Field.
It was a match of patience against persistence. Paraguay came to frustrate and they did it well for 66 minutes, sitting deep and making Didier Deschamps’ side work for every inch. The first half ended goalless with neither team able to break the deadlock.
Seven minutes after the restart, Khéphren Kone tried to change that with a fierce long-range strike, but Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill was equal to it, parrying the effort away. The breakthrough finally came in the 67th minute when French winger Désiré Doué was brought down in the box. After a VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot.
In the 69th minute, Kylian Mbappé stepped up and sent Gill the wrong way to give France the lead. It was France’s 115th goal in FIFA World Cup history, and Mbappé’s 7th of the 2026 tournament. The 27-year-old is in ridiculous form:
- ⚽️⚽️ vs Senegal
- ⚽️⚽️ vs Iraq
- 🅰️🅰️ vs Norway
- ⚽️⚽️ vs Sweden
- ⚽️ vs Paraguay
That’s 9 goal contributions in 5 games.
Paraguay didn’t give up. In the 95th minute, Mbappé was denied twice in quick succession by an inspired Gill, who was later named Man of the Match for his outstanding performance. But France held firm to seal the win.
Reactions after the match
Kylian Mbappé:
“If we have to get our hands dirty, we will do it. We’ve shown we’re not just a team that knows how to play attacking football. They thought we’d show up in tuxedos to play, but we know how to play dirty football too.”
Didier Deschamps:
“I remember the match against Uruguay in 2018; I had to take Kylian off because they were going to burn him down.”
Gustavo Alfaro, Paraguay coach:
“Today we faced players contending for the Ballon d’Or and the all-time World Cup goal-scoring record. WE HAVE KIDS WHO NEVER KNEW THEIR FATHERS. I WANTED TO ATTEMPT A REVOLUTION. Tonight, I asked the two strongest players on the bench to protect him at the end of the match, because I don’t want to lose any players.”
Rayan Cherki:
“It was important to us to play a game like this during this World Cup to remind everyone that the French team knows how to play a good game but also knows how to make WAR.” (RMC)
France now turn their attention to a blockbuster quarterfinal against Morocco, who beat hosts Canada 3-0 earlier. It will be attack vs history, flair vs resilience.
For Les Bleus, it wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. And in knockout football, that’s often all that matters.
—