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Keeper hurls ball at French star after ignored handshake in testy clash

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Kylian Mbappé laughed and smiled — and scored, of course — when Paraguay tried to bait him and his French teammates into fouls and provoke fights, as hot heads became a recurring theme during one of the steamiest World Cup games on record.

After the final whistle, Mbappé kept on walking and left Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill hanging as Gill extended his right hand in a show of sportsmanship.

In response, Gill thew the ball right at the number 10 on Mbappé's jersey.

Mbappé got the last laugh as he scored his 19th career World Cup goal, and France survived stifling heat to beat Paraguay 1-0, sending Les Bleus into the quarterfinals for the fourth straight time.

"We knew what kind of match it was going to be," Mbappé said in French.

"We can also get our hands dirty, we know how to do it. We know how to play ugly football. Guess they were thinking we were going to show up in tuxedos, but we were ready."

France advanced to play Morocco in Boston after the African team comfortable accounted for Canada 3-0.

With an extreme heat warning in effect throughout the match as temperatures hovered around 38C, Mbappé finally broke through against a physical, defensive-minded Paraguay side when he converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute.

Mbappé was awarded the penalty when Diego Gomez was called for tripping after a video review. Then he stutter-stepped on his way to his 19th goal in 19 World Cup appearances, one behind career record holder Lionel Messi of Argentina. Mbappé and Messi each have seven goals in this tournament to top the Golden Boot race.

Mbappé won that award four years ago in Qatar, but Messi and Argentina beat France in the final.

Mbappé — who frequently trash-talked the Paraguayans in Spanish — is now the only player to score at least three goals in the knockout stage of three World Cups.

Mbappé botched a breakaway attempt in the second half, and Manu Koné had his top-corner shot knocked away by Gill after he was wiped out in the netting by Ousmane Dembélé only moments earlier.

Gill also stopped two strong attempts by Mbappé in second-half stoppage time.

"Without that penalty, we would have taken it to extra time," Gill said.

For the criticism that hydration breaks have watered down the pace of play at the World Cup, they were never more needed for the players than in the midst of a miserable heat wave. Sprinklers showered the Kentucky bluegrass field during the breaks and at halftime.

More than in any of the five other World Cup games played before 68,000-plus fans at Lincoln Financial Field, spectators fled for the concourse at halftime, seeking shade and refuge from the sun.

Maybe they were looking for some action of any kind.

Les Bleus scored 13 goals in the first five games of the tournament but were stymied in the first half by a Paraguay team trying to turn the match into a rock fight. Tempers flared when Andrés Cubas took down Mbappé and the teams briefly pushed and shoved each other. Matías Galarza also threw his right elbow into Mbappé and sent him crashing to the grass.

Paraguay advanced by beating Germany in a penalty shootout, the biggest upset of this World Cup. But after a gritty effort by La Albirroja, it's France that's moving on.

After defeating Croatia for the 2018 title, France lost to Argentina on penalty kicks in the 2022 final. Les Bleus are 5-0 in this year's tournament, outscoring opponents 14-2.

Re-live all the action in our blog below.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 9:32am

Thanks for joining me this morning

That's all for the action for today.

France and Morocco became the first two teams to make it to the quarterfinals.

Two more big games tomorrow when Brazil takes on Norway and England faces Mexico.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 9:24am

Paraguay players branded 'an absolute disgrace'

Former England player Joe Hart calls the Paraguay players "an absolute disgrace".

"The Paraguay players were an absolute disgrace tonight. If they were on my team, I'd be dragging half of them off the pitch," he tells the BBC.

"I would never want to win that way and I would never want to play football that way. The referee didn't help in any circumstances. The fact that not one Paraguayan was booked inside the 90 minutes is astonishing."

It is pretty amazing that no Paraguay players were booked.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 9:12am

Freed from desire

The classic celebratory anthem is pumping out of the speakers, and the France players have gone over to their supporters jumping, dancing, and singing along to celebrate with them.

A very different scene to the polite applause they gave their fans after a much more routine win in the round of 32. They know the pressure is ramping up, and every match from here on in is going to be tougher than the last.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 9:05am

FT: Mbappe penalty secures France win over Paraguay

France booked a place in the World Cup quarterfinals after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Paraguay.

The South Americans frustrated the French team for most of the game, applying negative and defensive tactics.

France struggled to create chances, and had to wait until the 70th minute to get the game's only goal.

A VAR check awarded a penalty to France after a trip on Desire Doue.

Kylian Mbappe stepped up to convert from the spot, scoring his seventh goal of the tournament, putting him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the golden boot.

In stifling heat in Philadelphia, Paraguay struggled to create any chances as France held on for the win.

They will face Morocco in the quarterfinals.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 9:02am

90+5' Mbappe denied twice by brilliant saves

How is it not 2-0?

Kylian Mbappe could have killed the game off there.

Orlando Gill makes a brilliant one-handed save from Mbappe, then denies the French striker again on the follow up.

That was an amazing save.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 8:55am

90' A shot on target for Paraguay!

Mauricio shoots but it's a pretty simple save.

We're going to have 10 minutes of stoppage time!

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 8:51am

87' No shots on target by Paraguay

It's been ugly, anti-football from Paraguay today.

To be fair, it has frustrated France for much of the game.

But even after going behind, they haven't changed tactics and have yet to have a shot on target.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 8:47am

78' Lucky escape for Paraguay defender

Juan Jose Caceres has a little kick out at Kylian Mbappe and avoids a card.

We're certainly seeing some dark arts from the South Americans.

Doesn't make a difference unless they score a goal.

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 8:42am

Another capacity crowd

The attendance is officially 68,324 here in Philadelphia.

Well done to everyone for turning up on an unbearably hot day, and for bringing strong vibes, even when the action on the pitch hasn't always been deserving of it!

Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 8:41am