France’s Kylian Mbappe (10) celebrates his team victory at the end of the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
Kylian Mbappé scored his 19th career World Cup goal, and France survived stifling heat to beat Paraguay 1-0 on Saturday (July 4, 2026), sending Les Bleus into the quarterfinals for the fourth straight time.
France advanced to play Morocco on Thursday (July 9, 2026) in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
With an extreme heat warning in effect throughout the match as temperatures hovered around 38°C, Mbappé finally broke through against a physical, defensive-minded Paraguay side when he converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute.
That was enough for Les Bleus, whose red, white and blue-clad fans looked plenty patriotic on July Fourth in Philadelphia, where the United States was founded exactly 250 years earlier.
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 botched a breakaway attempt in the second half, and Manu Koné had his top-corner shot knocked away by goalkeeper Orlando 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.
Published – July 05, 2026 04:53 am IST
