It wasn’t pretty, but almost every World Cup champion in history has needed a victory like this. France earned it with a well-deserved 1-0 win over Paraguay, the team that had defeated Germany, and had to weather a lot of pressure in the process.
Maybe it will turn out like in 1998, when France won the World Cup for the first time. Once again, the opponent in the Round of 16 was Paraguay; 28 years later, the favorite prevailed 1-0 once more. This time via a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappé—his seventh goal of the tournament—and in 1998 via a golden goal by Laurent Blanc. Yes, that used to happen. Present then and now: Didier Deschamps. First as a player, now in his final tournament with Les Bleus.
On the U.S. Independence Day, Deschamps had to watch as his team—which had been so dominant up to that point—struggled to a hard-fought victory. That was certainly also due to the fact that Paraguay was allowed to foul as much as they wanted because the disastrous referee Ilgiz Tantashev from Uzbekistan failed to intervene.
In France’s favor: The players didn’t let themselves get thrown off their game; they stayed calm, waited for their chance, and capitalized on it with the penalty kick. “Paraguay didn’t want to play soccer, but we showed them that we can handle it,” said Mbappé. “If we have to get our hands dirty, we’ll do it. We’ve proven that we’re a team that has more to offer than just attacking soccer.”
Offensively, the Equipe Tricolore delivered its weakest performance of the tournament so far. Michael Olise lacked moments of brilliance, Ousmane Dembélé couldn’t pull off simple plays, and even Mbappé missed a lot of chances. A telling moment came in the 51st minute, when he failed to control a perfect clearance from goalkeeper Mike Maignan and the ball bounced off his hand. And in stoppage time, he had the chance to tie Lionel Messi with his 20th career World Cup goal, but was denied twice by Paraguay’s goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
Upamecano and Saliba don’t let anything slip by
In contrast, the defense was rock-solid, conceding virtually nothing against the South Americans—unlike Germany did. Though the question remains whether Paraguay even wanted to score. Regardless, both Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba did their jobs consistently and well, not letting anything slip by. Even the absence of Aurelien Tchouameni in defensive midfield—a precautionary measure—was a minor footnote, as former Borussia Mönchengladbach player Manu Koné filled in for him well.
Thursday’s quarterfinal in Boston will now feature a rematch of the 2022 semifinal. Back then, France defeated Morocco 2–0, and this time around, the Grande Nation also enters the match as the favorite. While they’ll face a strong opponent, they’ll likely be able to play their brand of soccer once again.
They certainly didn’t eliminate the best opponent in Paraguay, but they may have overcome the toughest challenge. “We’ve had easy games so far, so it’s good to have gone through a match like this,” said Deschamps, placing enormous value on the victory. The 57-year-old was meticulous during the game and after the final whistle to ensure his players didn’t let themselves be provoked. He needs his stars on the field, not suspended. Ideally, for three more games—and victories.