Mbappe’s penalty settles a fractious tie as France set up a Morocco rematch

France did not have it all their own way, but in the end they rarely needed to. Kylian Mbappe’s penalty with 20 minutes to play settled a fractious round-of-16 tie 1-0 against Paraguay in Philadelphia overnight, sending Didier Deschamps’ side into the quarter-finals and lining up a meeting with Morocco loaded with recent history.

A scrappy, ill-tempered night

This was not a game for the purists. Paraguay, who had already knocked Germany out on penalties to reach this stage, set out to drag France into a fight. They broke up play, crowded the referee and collected a steady stream of bookings, and for long spells it worked. France saw plenty of the ball without turning their control into clear openings, and the frustration built in a contest that threatened to boil over more than once.

Mbappe makes the difference

It took a moment of quality and a video review to break the deadlock. Desire Doue worked his way into the box and went down under a challenge, and once the spot-kick was awarded Mbappe took over. He stuttered in his run-up, then placed the penalty low into the corner beyond Orlando Gill. It was the captain stepping up again at the moment his side needed him, and Paraguay had neither the composure nor the cutting edge to respond.

Morocco await in the last eight

The reward is a quarter-final against Morocco, who earlier saw off Canada 3-0, and it is a tie with an edge to it. France knocked Morocco out at the semi-final stage in 2022, and the Atlas Lions have looked every bit as dangerous this time around. For Deschamps, in what is set to be his final tournament in charge, one more last-eight test now stands between France and a return to the semi-finals. Paraguay, for their part, head home with their heads high after a run few saw coming.

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