France have qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, setting up a fiery encounter with Morocco, after claiming a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paraguay on Sunday morning in Philadelphia, thanks to a penalty converted by captain Kylian Mbappé in the 69th minute.
Mbappé raised his tally to 7 goals, drawing level with Lionel Messi at the top of the 2026 World Cup scoring charts. France also extended their historic dominance over Paraguay, taking their record to 4 wins in 6 meetings between the two sides, with 2 draws, as Paraguay remain without a single victory against Les Bleus.
The first half saw an early attacking push from France, met by a compact and organised defensive block from Paraguay, who relied on quick counterattacks. Despite French possession and repeated attempts, genuine danger was largely absent from both ends, save for a surprise long-range strike from Koné.
Paraguay began to show their own attacking intent through a long-range effort from Diego Gómez that posed little threat, before Koné led France's best chance with a shot from inside the penalty area that the Paraguayan goalkeeper saved brilliantly.
French pressure continued through Ousmane Dembélé, who struck a ball that deflected off a defender and resulted in a corner that came to nothing, while Paraguay's defence maintained its shape as the first half ended goalless.
France kept up their pressure at the start of the second half, with Kylian Mbappé almost breaking the deadlock after finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only for defender Cáceres to intervene at the last moment and clear for a corner.
Koné then unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, but the Paraguayan goalkeeper produced a fine save to keep his sheet clean.
By the 67th minute, VAR intervened and awarded France a penalty after substitute Désiré Doué was fouled inside the area.
Mbappé converted the spot kick in the 69th minute to give his side the lead, before he wasted 2 opportunities to extend the advantage, with the Paraguayan goalkeeper excelling to deny both efforts, as the match ended in a 1-0 win for France.