Kylian Mbappe Scores As France Beat Paraguay 1-0 To Enter FIFA World Cup Quarter-Finals
Kylian Mbappe Scores As France Beat Paraguay 1-0 To Enter FIFA World Cup Quarter-Finals Published By, Last Updated: July 05, 2026, 07:17 IST Kylian Mbappe's
Kylian Mbappe Scores As France Beat Paraguay 1-0 To Enter FIFA World Cup Quarter-Finals Published By, Last Updated: July 05, 2026, 07:17 IST Kylian Mbappe's penalty was enough for France to set up FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final clash with Morocco. Rapid Read Kylian Mbappe converted the penalty in the 70th minute. (AP Photo) Kylian Mbappe scored a second-half penalty as France beat Paraguay 1-0 to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-finals, where they will now face Morocco. France captain Mbappe converted from the spot in the 70th minute after a hard-fought match played in temperatures of about 38 degrees Celsius at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. The goal was Mbappe’s seventh of the tournament, drawing him level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. Paraguay, who stunned four-time champions Germany on penalties in the last 32, frustrated France for much of the game with a disciplined defensive display. France broke through after Desire Doue came on for Bradley Barcola in the 61st minute. The Paris Saint-Germain player cut inside from the left, beat several defenders and was brought down in the penalty area by Diego Gomez.
Referee Ilgiz Tantashev initially allowed play to continue, but awarded a penalty after a VAR review. Mbappe calmly converted to decide the match as a heatwave affected the northeastern United States during the July 4 holiday weekend. “We knew what sort of match we were in for, but I think today went really well," Mbappe said. “They thought we’d turn up in tuxedos, that we’d just come to pull off some spectacular moves.But we know how to play the dirty game too. And we did that today; we won, and even in that respect we were better than them," he added. France will play Morocco in the quarter-finals in Foxborough, outside Boston, on Thursday. The match is a repeat of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, which France won. Earlier on Saturday, Morocco reached the last eight with a 3-0 win over co-hosts Canada in Houston. Azzedine Ounahi scored twice and Soufiane Rahimi added a goal in injury time at NRG Stadium. Canada made the stronger start and controlled the early stages, but Morocco took the lead shortly after half-time when Ounahi fired in a low shot from the edge of the area.
Ounahi scored again eight minutes from time before Rahimi sealed the victory with a late counter-attacking goal. “We are very happy," Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. “It’s a World Cup match and these are difficult games with teams playing for their lives. Canada were impressive — they played a top match. It was no surprise for us but in the second half we were able to profit from the space they left us." Morocco became the first African nation to reach the quarter-finals in back-to-back World Cups. “We’re no longer a surprise today and that’s a great source of pride," Ouahbi said. “I think this is only the beginning and I hope we’ll keep producing this kind of run for many years." Canada coach Jesse Marsch felt his side had deserved more. “We were the better team," Marsch said. “It’s just they had a bit of quality in the final third and we lacked the ability to make a play when we needed to." Saturday’s matches opened the last 16 as the tournament entered its knockout stage.
The BriefWire