The final whistle had barely blown in Philadelphia when Gustavo Velazquez lunged towards France players, needing to be separated as tensions that had simmered for 90 minutes finally erupted. Kylian Mbappe had already blanked Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill to celebrate, roaring "Vamos!" to the crowd, but the South Americans' fury was directed at both the officials and Les Bleus.
What preceded was a match that former England goalkeeper Joe Hart described as an "absolute disgrace". Speaking to BBC One, Hart said: "If they were on my team, I'd be dragging them off the pitch." Paraguay, who had won neutrals by knocking out Germany on penalties in the last 32, showed their ugly side in a bad-tempered contest played in punishing Philadelphia heat.
“France beat Paraguay 1-0 in a ill-tempered World Cup last-16 clash, with pundits condemning Paraguay's 'disgraceful' dark arts.”
Astonishingly, while France players Manu Kone, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise were all cautioned by Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev, not one Paraguay player received a yellow card. Andres Cubas escaped a booking after clattering into Adrien Rabiot, Juan Jose Caceres kicked out at Mbappe unpunished, and Gabriel Avalos dropped an elbow into Dayot Upamecano's stomach when Paraguay were chasing the game.
The decisive moment came with 20 minutes left. Diego Gomez stuck out his leg to bring down Desire Doue. Tantashev, whose overall performance was widely criticised for being too weak, reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor and awarded a penalty. Even then, Paraguay's players crowded the Uzbek official in an attempt to delay the kick, while Velazquez tried to scuff the penalty spot before Mbappe scored his seventh goal of the tournament — drawing him level with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race.
"There were some insults from the other bench we could have done without," said France boss Didier Deschamps in his news conference. Former England defender Micah Richards told BBC One: "It was embarrassing to see. Paraguay are better than that. Defensively they were so good and they didn't need to get into these antics."
Tempers flared twice earlier in the match. In the 35th minute, the teams were separated after a foul on Mbappe, who pushed his opponent. During the second-half hydration break, players barged together on the way to their dugouts. Even at full time, a scuffle broke out as Velazquez attempted to confront France players.
Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Paraguay tried to wind up the France players, little shoves and nudges but not enough to get a yellow card. Every single dark art you can use."
France's 1-0 victory secured a quarter-final date with Morocco at Boston Stadium on Thursday. Hart praised Mbappe's composure: "I absolutely love how he's behaved in this game, because they have come for him from minute one. He's allowed to be arrogant because he is brilliant."