France overcome Paraguay's 'dark arts' to reach World Cup

France survived a physical and controversial encounter with Paraguay to win 1-0 and advance to the World Cup quarter-finals, where they will face Morocco. The match, played in extreme heat in Philadelphia, was marred by what commentators described as 'dark arts' from the Paraguay side, including unpunished fouls and attempts to disrupt play.

Match Overview

The decisive moment came with 20 minutes remaining when Diego Gomez fouled Desire Doue in the box. After a pitchside review, referee Ilgiz Tantashev awarded a penalty. Kylian Mbappe converted the spot kick, his seventh goal of the tournament, tying him with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. Despite Paraguay's attempts to delay the kick—including Gustavo Velazquez scuffing the penalty spot—Mbappe scored to put France ahead.

The victory was hard-earned for France, who had dominated earlier rounds but struggled to break down a resilient Paraguay defense. The first half saw no shots on target from Les Bleus, as the heat—recorded at 38.3°C at kick-off, one of the hottest World Cup matches ever—took its toll.

Controversial Tactics

Paraguay's approach drew sharp criticism from pundits. Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC One: "Paraguay's players were an absolute disgrace. If they were on my team, I'd be dragging them off the pitch." Former England defender Micah Richards added: "It was embarrassing to see. Paraguay are better than that. Defensively they were so good and they didn't need to get into these antics."

Incidents included Andres Cubas escaping a booking for a heavy tackle on Adrien Rabiot, Juan Jose Caceres kicking out at Kylian Mbappe unpunished, and Gabriel Avalos elbowing Dayot Upamecano in the ribs. While France players Manu Kone, Bradley Barcola, and Michael Olise received yellow cards, no Paraguay player was booked. After the final whistle, a scuffle broke out as Velazquez confronted France players.

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Every single dark art you can use. Paraguay tried to wind up the France players, little shoves and nudges but not enough to get a yellow card."

France's Response

France coach Didier Deschamps acknowledged the tension: "There were some insults from the other bench we could have done without." Mbappe, however, was defiant: "We know how to play ugly football. They thought we'd show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even at that game, we were better than them. That's their style of football—there's no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried to beat us that way, but we won."

Mbappe's goal was his 19th in 19 World Cup appearances, and since 2018 he has scored 11 knockout-stage goals—more than Brazil (10), England (10), Portugal (9), and Spain (4) in that period.

Looking Ahead

France will now face Morocco in the quarter-finals at Boston Stadium on Thursday (21:00 BST). Paraguay, who had knocked out Germany on penalties in the previous round, exit the tournament after a performance that drew widespread condemnation for its unsportsmanlike conduct.