DALLAS, Texas — Kylian Mbappé kept France’s FIFA World Cup title bid alive after converting a decisive second-half penalty to secure a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paraguay and send Les Bleus into the quarterfinals on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines).
Mbappé struck in the 70th minute after a video review determined that Paraguay’s Diego Gómez had committed a foul inside the penalty area, allowing the French captain to calmly slot home the winning goal despite protests from Paraguayan players.
The conversion marked Mbappé’s 19th career World Cup goal in his 19th tournament appearance, once again delivering on the biggest stage as France survived an intensely physical Round of 16 showdown.
France endured difficult conditions, with temperatures approaching 38 degrees Celsius, and found it difficult to penetrate Paraguay’s rugged defensive setup despite controlling possession for most of the match.
Mbappé said France proved it could match Paraguay’s physical approach while maintaining its composure under pressure.
“We show Paraguay that if they want to play dirty, we can also play dirty,” Mbappé remarked after the game. “We’ve shown we’re not just a team that knows how to play attacking football.”
“If we have to get our hands dirty, we will do it. They thought we’d show up in tuxedos to play, but we know how to play dirty football too,” added the Real Madrid star.
In Houston, Morocco also secured a place in the quarterfinals after blanking Canada, 3-0, for its second consecutive appearance in the last eight of the World Cup.
Azzedine Ounahi scored twice to lead the Moroccans, who weathered sustained Canadian pressure before taking control of the match.
Morocco broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when Achraf Hakimi delivered a low pass from a rehearsed free-kick routine to Ounahi, who fired into the bottom corner from 25 yards.
Ounahi doubled the lead in the 82nd minute after finishing off a four-on-two counterattack initiated by Brahim Diaz before Soufiane Rahimi sealed the victory with a late third goal.
In the other knockout matches, defending champion Argentina outlasted Cape Verde, 3-2; Egypt eliminated Australia in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw, 4-2; while Colombia edged Ghana, 1-0, to complete the quarterfinal cast./PN
