France Beats Paraguay 1-0 on Mbappé Penalty to Reach World Cup Quarterfinals

France advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday after Kylian Mbappé converted a 70th-minute penalty. The match remained scoreless through a physical first half that produced only five shots and a combined expected goals total of 0.20. Paraguay defended deep and disrupted play with frequent fouls and delays.

France earned the decisive penalty when Paraguay substitute Diego Gomez fouled Désiré Doué inside the box. Referee Ilgiz Tantashev reviewed the incident with VAR before pointing to the spot. Mbappé sent goalkeeper Orlando Gill the wrong way to score his seventh goal of the tournament. The tally ties him with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead.

Defense France entered the round of 16 after group-stage wins over Senegal, Iraq and Norway plus a round-of-32 victory against Sweden. Paraguay arrived on the back of an upset elimination of Germany. French coach Didier Deschamps kept his starting lineup largely intact, inserting Manu Koné for the injured Aurélien Tchouaméni.

The team struggled to create clear chances against Paraguay's low block until the late penalty.

Paraguay exits the tournament after reaching the round of 16. Mbappé's goal also makes him only the second player, alongside Messi, to score seven or more times at two different World Cups.