France vs Paraguay: World Cup Round of 16 – Mbappe, prediction, kickoff
France have been the best team so far at the World Cup, although Paraguay are in a confident mood after upsetting Germany. How can your
France have been the best team so far at the World Cup, although Paraguay are in a confident mood after upsetting Germany. How can your team reach the final and win the World Cup 2026? Click here to find out. Who: France vs Paraguay What: FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 16 Where: Philadelphia Stadium, US When: Saturday, July 4, at 5pm (21:00 GMT) How to follow: We will have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 18:00 GMT before our live text commentary stream. Kylian Mbappe’s France have been the outstanding team so far at this World Cup and will be expected to get the better of Paraguay on Saturday and extend their run to the quarterfinals. France look a very good bet to win their third World Cup, and they are certainly expected to overcome a Paraguay team ranked 41st in the world. After winning the trophy in 2018 and losing the 2022 final on penalties, France are hoping to become only the third team in World Cup history to reach three consecutive finals, after West Germany and Brazil. That remains a long way off but their performances so far suggest they will take some beating. Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat of Sweden in the last 32, in which Mbappe scored twice and Bradley Barcola once, made it four wins in four matches with 13 goals scored. But the Paraguayans head to Philadelphia with their confidence sky-high after their victory on penalties against Germany – which led to a national holiday being declared back home. What happened in France’s last-32 game? Mbappe scored twice, and Michael Olise was in scintillating form as France beat Sweden 3-0. The Real Madrid striker finished a superb move to break the deadlock just before half-time.
Olise set up Paris Saint-Germain winger Barcola for the second goal on 53 minutes, and then delivered a delightful pass for Mbappe to complete a convincing victory. Mbappe’s strikes saw him move level with Lionel Messi on six goals in the all-star golden boot race at this World Cup. The France captain now has 18 World Cup goals in total, meaning he is just one behind Messi’s overall record of 19, a mark 27-year-old Mbappe will keep chasing. What happened in Paraguay’s last-32 game? The Germans trailed 1-0 at half-time to Julio Enciso’s 42nd-minute header from Matias Galarza’s cross on Monday. It was a limp display by the four-time winners in the first period, but they drew level in the second half, when Kai Havertz scored eight minutes after the restart with a glancing header from Florian Wirtz’s ball in from the flank. Germany then had a Jonathan Tah goal from a corner ruled out after a VAR review for a foul on Paraguay’s keeper, and with no further goal, the game went to spot kicks after extra time. Havertz, who helped Arsenal end a 22-year wait to win the English Premier League title this season, missed the opening kick of the shootout. The forward’s side would miss three kicks in total, as Paraguay, who themselves missed two kicks, eventually prevailed 4-3. Deschamps releases the handbrake France have enjoyed plenty of success during Didier Deschamps’s 14 years in charge, but for a long time there was a sense that a pragmatic coach was not allowing his team to maximise their attacking potential. Now at his last tournament before stepping down, that appears to have changed. Mbappe, Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and the brilliant Michael Olise seem unstoppable.
The BriefWire