- Mbappé equals Messi in the race for the Golden Shoe.
- France hosted a quarter-final against Morocco.
- Doue wins a decisive penalty after appearing as a substitute.
Kylian Mbappe converted from the spot in the 70th minute for his 19th career World Cup goal and seventh of this tournament as France outlasted Paraguay to reach the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory on Saturday in a torrid last-16 tie.
With the penalty, earned by substitute Désiré Doué’s slalom into the box, Mbappe tied Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the top of the 2026 Golden Boot standings and placed himself among the 39-year-old for the all-time lead in World Cup goals.
It was all the Blues needed against a resilient but limited Albirroja team, which offered few advances but defended admirably and tried to bait opponents into fighting without the ball in sweltering conditions with temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We knew what kind of match we were going to have,” Mbappé said through an interpreter. “If we have to get our hands dirty, we can do it. We can play lousy football. They thought we would be in tuxedos, but here we were. Even in that game we were better than them. It’s their football, there’s no right or wrong way to play. They tried to get to us that way, but we won.”
France will face Morocco next Thursday in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal that ended in a 2-0 French victory.
Paraguay stunned Germany on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the round of 16 on Monday, a result that prompted President Santiago Pena to declare Tuesday a national holiday.
But the Albirroja still came within one round of their best quarter-final of all time in 2010, which was also their last participation in the World Cup final.
The South Americans frustrated the two-time world champions throughout the first half and well into the second, helped in part by the timid approach of Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev. When he reached into his pocket, it was confusing for three French delinquents, even though Paraguay led 12-9 in fouls.
“It wasn’t easy. They used every trick in the book,” France coach Didier Deschamps said through an interpreter. “It’s not the kind of football that will bring people to the stadium, but they defended well. It’s always difficult against these South American teams.
“I asked the two biggest guys to go stand around Kylian at the end because they were going to take him down.”
But Paraguay had no solution for the injection of energy provided by Doue after Deschamps inserted him in the 61st minute for Bradley Barcola.
Moments after Tantashev dismissed calls for a foul on Mbappe just outside the area, Doue’s excellent, incisive dribble from the left forced a clumsy left-leg challenge from Diego Gomez that forced the referee to make another decision.
Initially, he came to the same conclusion and blew the whistle, only to be summoned to the replay monitor by his VAR manager, Juan Lara. Finally, he saw Gomez’s clear fault.
After some delaying tactics from Paraguay on the spot, Mbappe converted perfectly into the bottom right corner as goalkeeper Orlando Gill guessed in the opposite direction.
Visibly tired by the conditions and by their 120-minute effort against the Germans, Paraguay finally tried to improve their numbers. Substitute Mauricio had his first shot on target in the 90th minute.
But it was France who looked most likely to add another goal, with Gill doing well to deny Mbappe a double with an 89th-minute save and two more in the sixth minute of second-half injury time.
“Paraguay leaves with its head held high,” Gill said. “I think without the penalty we could have achieved it. We did very well in the first half, we avoided all the through passes. It’s a shame there was a penalty, but that’s how football is.”
