Kylian Mbappes penalty-kick goal sends France past Paraguay and into World Cup quarterfinals
PHILADELPHIA — At this point in the World Cup, it’s not a matter of if Kylian Mbappé will score; it’s a matter of when. And on Saturday, the answer was the 70th minute in France’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay to advance to the quarterfinals and book a date with Morocco on Thursday in New England.Mbappé scored his seventh goal of the World Cup on a penalty kick after the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled a tackle by Paraguay defender Gustavo Gómez was a foul. The French soccer star tied Lionel Messi with seven goals in this year’s tournament as he notched his 19th career goal in his 19th career World Cup match after making his debut for Les Bleus during the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Mbappé is one goal behind Messi for the all-time World Cup goal-scoring record. Mbappé and France were not short on chances, but, to Paraguay’s credit, its physical style of play helped temper the machine-like offense that Les Bleus have shown this tournament.France scored at least three goals in their last five World Cup matches, which included the 2022 final against Argentina, coming into Saturday night, only to see that come to an end thanks to one of the Cinderella stories of this year’s tournament. The physicality picked up as the match went on, and in the 35th minute, it looked as though the two sides might come to blows after Mbappé took exception to an aggressive defensive play by Andrés Cubas.
Mbappé and Cubas exchanged words, leading to both teams charging in to defend their respective players, with several players exchanging shoves. France’s offensive prowess really started to show in the second half and nearly claimed the lead several minutes into the match after halftime.Mbappé was able to break free but couldn’t corral the ball enough, allowing a Paraguayan defender to catch up to him. Several minutes later, Manu Koné fired a ball from deep outside the penalty area and forced Orlando Gill to make a diving save.
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