The United States may not have been in action on Independence Day, but France — who fittingly played an important role in the Revolutionary War — was on the pitch in Philadelphia against Paraguay in a massive Round of 16 clash for a trip to the quarterfinals.It was a hot day in the birthplace of our nation, and that made things difficult for both teams in more ways than one.While Paraguay is a great squad, they were significant underdogs against a heavily favored French team led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, who has been lighting it up this tournament.THIS 'AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL' RENDITION BEFORE THE FRANCE VS PARAGUAY MATCH WILL GIVE YOU GOOSEBUMPSFrench and Paraguayan players get into a shoving match during their Round of 16 match on Saturday in Philadelphia.(Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)Obviously, the heat itself is a factor, but it also made for a slower pitch, something that was believed to play into the hands of Paraguay.However, most of the action in the first half was played on their end as France put the pressure on through the first half hour of the match.It was intense, and that intensity boiled over in the 35th minute with some pushing and shoving after Mbappé and Paraguay's Andrés Cubas started a wild shoving match.VAR DENIES CROATIA'S GAME-TYING GOAL AS CRISTIANO RONALDO LEADS PORTUGAL TO ROUND OF 16But while the intensity ramped up — and stayed high for pretty much the entire game — Paraguay weathered the storm and had every reason to feel good about reaching halftime with the game scoreless.France got some more scoring opportunities in the early part of the second half, including a near-breakaway for Mbappé.France's Kylian Mbappe scored the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal against Paraguay on a penalty kick.
(James Lang-Imagn Images)In the 67th minute, France was awarded a penalty kick for a foul against Desire Doue that had to go to VAR for review, and it was Mbappé who took it.MESSI, ARGENTINA AVOID A SHOCKING UPSET IN WILD KNOCKOUT ...