The celebrations were furious. After Kylian Mbappé’s second-half penalty secured France’s quarter‑final place, the entire squad charged to the end of Philadelphia Stadium where the core of French support was gathered. There was a pile‑on, roaring and chests actively thumped. But beneath the euphoria, this was the least convincing performance by the World Cup favourites at this tournament.
Mbappé, who led the revelry as ever, turned to the TV cameras and framed the narrative: this had been less a match and more a battle. “We knew what kind of match we were going to have,” the France captain said. “But we know how to get our hands dirty.”
“France scraped past Paraguay 1-0 after Mbappe penalty, but unconvincing display gives Morocco hope.”
Paraguay had nagged, nibbled and, occasionally, smashed their way through proceedings, reverting to a five‑man back line with a narrow midfield four. They limited spaces so effectively that even Michael Olise could not thread the eye of the needle. Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola struggled; France did not register a shot on target until the 55th minute. They had only one more – the winning penalty – before a final attacking flourish saw Mbappé denied three times by goalkeeper Orlando Gill in extended added time.
Didier Deschamps gave a less impassioned assessment. “It was a tough game but, as I said to the players, we’ve had easy games so far. It is good to face a tough one,” the manager said. “I have prepared the players, they were expecting this game. I do not want to criticise Paraguay; each team plays the way they want. Playing low block requires less effort. But even in today’s heat we should have played faster in transition.”
France recorded the fewest shots on target and the lowest expected goals of their tournament – penalty included. The general air of disjointedness will have proven intriguing viewing for Morocco, their quarter‑final opponents, who are a team capable of making things equally uncomfortable.