Kylian Mbappe Penalty Sends France Past Paraguay

Kylian Mbappe Penalty Sends France Past Paraguay | Daily Tribune

The goal was Mbappe's seventh, putting him alongside Argentina's Lionel Messi in the race for the tournament's Golden Boot.

Paraguay, who pulled off a massive upset in the Last 32 by ousting four-time champions Germany on penalties, frustrated France for long periods with an ultra-disciplined defensive effort.

But the introduction of substitute Desire Doue for left winger Bradley Barcola in the 61st minute led to the breakthrough.

Paris Saint-Germain player Doue cut in menacingly from the left and jinked past several Paraguayan players before being upended by Diego Gomez in the area.

There was a brief delay after referee Ilgiz Tantashev waved play on, but when the incident was sent to VAR for review, the Uzbek official swiftly pointed to the spot.

Mbappe stepped up and converted with aplomb to settle a match played in temperatures of around 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) as a heatwave roasted the northeastern United States as it celebrated the 4 July holiday.

"We knew what sort of match we were in for, but I think today went really well," Mbappe said after an ill-tempered affair that saw three France players pick up yellow cards.

"They thought we'd turn up in tuxedos, that we'd just come to pull off some spectacular moves," Mbappe added.

"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."

France will now face Morocco in the quarter-finals in Foxborough, outside Boston on Thursday — a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final won by Les Bleus.

Morocco booked their place in the last eight earlier on Saturday after ending co-host Canada's World Cup campaign with a clinical 3-0 victory in Houston.

Two goals from Azzedine Ounahi and an injury-time effort from Soufiane Rahimi sealed the win for Morocco at the NRG Stadium.

The reigning African champions, who had produced a superb performance to eliminate the Netherlands in the last 32, were made to work hard for victory by a Canada side who dominated the early exchanges.

But Morocco made the crucial breakthrough just after half-time when Ounahi swept in a powerful low shot from the edge of the area.

Ounahi made victory inevitable eight minutes from time with his second before Rahimi's late goal on the counter-attack left Canada heading for the tournament exit.

"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 was 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 are the first African nation to reach the quarter-finals in back-to-back World Cups, providing yet further evidence of the team's emergence among the world's elite footballing nations.