France got exactly what Germany got against Paraguay — a fight. The difference is France survived it.
And it took Kylian Mbappé, yet again, to make sure they did.
The French captain buried a penalty kick in the 70th minute at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, pushing Les Bleus past a stubborn Paraguay side 1-0 and into the World Cup quarterfinals. It wasn’t pretty. France held the ball 76 percent of the match and still struggled to create clean looks. But Mbappé from the spot was enough.
That goal was his 19th in 19 World Cup appearances. That ties him with Lionel Messi for the most goals in men’s World Cup history. Nineteen goals, 19 games. The math is ridiculous.
Mbappé has at least one more game to take sole possession of the record. France meets Morocco on Thursday in Boston Stadium, and you can bet the 27-year-old will be the center of every defensive game plan Morocco draws up.
A win that raised questions
Didier Deschamps won’t love everything he saw on the tape. France dominated possession the way you’d expect against a lower-ranked opponent but barely threatened outside that penalty kick. The passing was clean, the movement was there, but the final ball kept dying in the box. Paraguay packed it in and dared France to break them down. For long stretches, they couldn’t.
It’s the kind of performance that gets papered over when you have Mbappé on your team. He’s the cheat code, the guy who makes a 1-0 gut-check look inevitable in the moment. The penalty itself was clinical — low, hard, into the side netting. Goalkeeper went the wrong way. Routine for him. Historic for everyone else.
Morocco next
Morocco won’t be intimidated. They’ve already shown they can hang with top-tier teams in this tournament. And France knows better than to overlook anyone after what happened to Germany against this same Paraguay team.
But France also knows this: As long as Mbappé is on the field, they’re never more than one moment away from winning. He didn’t need to be brilliant for 90 minutes against Paraguay. He just needed one chance. And he converted.
The quarterfinal matchup is set. The history is in reach. Mbappé gets to chase the record in Boston. Pay attention to every touch he takes.
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