'Mbappe's 19th World Cup goal explodes → One goal behind Messi' France successfully advances to the quarterfinals... defeating Paraguay 1-0

*This content was translated by AI.

The championship favorite France broke through Paraguay's rough fouls and tight compact defense to reach the quarterfinals.

On the 5th (Korean time), France defeated Paraguay 1-0 in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup held at Philadelphia Stadium in Pennsylvania, USA. With this victory, France will face Morocco, who completely crushed co-host Canada 3-0, in the semi-finals. The two teams' quarterfinal match will take place on the 10th at Boston Stadium in the United States.

France deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation for this match. Mbappe started as the lone striker up front, with Bradley Barcola, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembele positioned in the second line. The midfield was guarded by Adrien Rabiot and Manu Koné, while Lucas Digne, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, and Jules Koundé formed a back four defense. Mike Maignan wore the goalkeeper gloves.

From the early stages of the match, France strongly pushed Paraguay. Having defeated Germany in the Round of 32, Paraguay adopted a purely defensive approach.

France knocked on the opponent's goal with Koné's long-range shot in the 22nd minute of the first half and Mbappe's header following Dembele's cross in the 30th minute, but failed to break through Paraguay's goal. During the first half, France recorded an overwhelming 81% possession and five shots but managed not a single shot on target, and Mbappe was tightly marked so much that he could not even take a single shot throughout the first half.

France's frustrating flow continued into the second half. In the 5th minute of the second half, Maignan's long kick connected immediately, giving Mbappe a decisive one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper, but he failed to connect with a shot due to a trapping error.

Amid somewhat frustrating play, France coach Didier Deschanges substituted Barcola for Désiré Doué in the 16th minute of the second half, bringing changes to the side attacks.

In the 20th minute of the second half, Doué, who was shaking up Paraguay's flanks with a bold breakthrough, attempted a dribble inside the penalty box but fell after being tackled by Diego Gómez. The referee declared a penalty kick after an on-field review. In the 25th minute of the second half, Mbappe, taking the kick, calmly scored with a right-footed shot that perfectly deceived the goalkeeper, shaking the net. It was a precious winning goal that finally broke through Paraguay's tight defensive wall.

Paraguay, pushed to the brink of elimination, late added attacking numbers by bringing on Mauricio and Avalos, but it was not enough to break through France's solid defense. Although a long 10 minutes of stoppage time were given, France comfortably held onto its one-goal lead and finished the match with a victory.

With this day's win, France achieved several significant milestones. It enjoyed the joy of becoming only the fourth team in history to surpass 150 total goals in World Cup finals, following Brazil, Germany, and Argentina.

Mbappe, who scored the winning goal, recorded his seventh goal of this tournament, tying with Lionel Messi (Argentina) for the top scorer position in the competition. Additionally, by recording his 19th career World Cup goal, he is now chasing the all-time leading scorer Messi (20 goals) by just one goal, once again proving his presence as the world's best striker.

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*This content was translated by AI.