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The USA may not have been in action on Independence Day, but France – who fittingly played an important role in the Revolutionary War – were on the pitch in Philadelphia against Paraguay in a massive round of 16 clash for a trip to the quarter-finals.
It was a hot day in the birthplace of our nation and that made things difficult for both teams in more ways than one.
While Paraguay are a great team, they were significant underdogs against a heavily favored French team led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, who has been on fire this tournament.
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French and Paraguayan players get into a shoving match during their Round of 16 match on Saturday in Philadelphia. (Kyle Ross-Imagn Photos)
Obviously, the heat itself is a factor, but it also made for a slower pitch, something that was thought to play into Paraguay’s hands.
However, most of the action in the first half was played in their end as France pressed throughout the first half hour of the game.
It was intense and that intensity boiled over in the 35th minute with some pushing and shoving after Mbappé and Paraguay’s Andrés Cubas started a wild shoving match.
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But while the intensity rose – and remained high for much of the match – Paraguay weathered the storm and had every reason to feel good about reaching the break with the game scoreless.
France had a few more scoring opportunities in the early part of the second half, including a near breakaway for Mbappé.
France’s Kylian Mbappe scored the go-ahead and ultimately match-winning goal against Paraguay on a penalty kick. (James Lang-Imagn Photos)
In the 67th minute, France were awarded a penalty for a foul on Desire Doue that had to go to VAR for review, and it was Mbappé who took it.
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Mbappé has tended to do most of his damage in the second half and that trend continued here as he drilled the penalty past Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
It was his 19th career World Cup goal, and only his seventh at this tournament, tying him with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament lead.
Paraguay looked to fade after the Mbappé goal but reignited it late, forcing Mike Maignan to make his first save of the day around 89 and a half minutes into the game.
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Paraguay’s plan seemed to be to try and get a rise out of the French and they managed to draw three yellow cards. In fact, they even tried to keep it going after the game with players meeting close to midfield for some more pushing and shoving.
But France will advance, and they will take on Morocco in a quarter-final match on Thursday in Boston.
