Paraguay – France: match details
The Paraguay vs France match will begin on July 4, 2026 at 21:00 GMT and 17:00 IST.
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Tournament favorites will face the rampant giant killers in a historic knockout reunion
An exciting round of 16 showdown will take center stage at Philadelphia Stadium, pitting two teams with very different paths to the late playoffs. Didier Deschamps leads an incredibly dominant France team who enter the match as tournament favourites, looking to extend their clinical form into the North American draw.
They face a resilient Paraguayan team led by Gustavo Alfaro, who captured the world’s attention by eliminating four-time winners Germany in the round of 16. While France have elite attacking depth, the memory of their historic 1998 Round of 16 showdown, where Les Blais required a dramatic 114th-minute golden goal from Laurent Blanc to break La Albirroja, proves the South Americans will relish the role of an unstable team. outsiders.
How La Albirroja and Les Bleus got here
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Paraguay wrote the most famous chapter in their recent football history by defeating Germany in the previous round. Following Strasbourg star Julio Enciso’s opening goal, Alfaro’s men showed stunning defensive steel to push the European giants to a dramatic penalty shoot-out, with goalkeeper Orlando Gill the hero to seal the fairytale progress.
France have run the tournament absolutely flawlessly and without restraint so far. Deschamps’ side easily dispatched Iraq and Norway in the group stage and then parlayed that momentum into a dominant 3-0 win over Sweden in the round of 16. With a powerful frontline that has swept away every team in its path, the French arrive in Philadelphia ready to cement their authority in the quarterfinal bracket.
Key returns and terrifying depth of attack on the support lines
Tactical preparations for this confrontation are receiving a powerful impetus from the South American side. Brighton playmaker Diego Gomez is officially available for selection after serving a one-match ban against Germany and is expected to immediately return to central midfield partner Andres Cubas. At fullback, Jose Canale will retain his starting role alongside experienced defender Gustavo Gomez, forming a tough defensive backline.
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France are looking clean with only Inter striker Marcus Thuram coping with a minor calf problem. Captain Kylian Mbappe leads the line as he chases the tournament’s record scoring charts, flanked by the stunning creativity of Michael Olise in his No.10 role. Olise has five assists in the tournament and is just one away from Pele’s all-time World Cup record in a single tournament.
Electric flank rotation against disciplined low blocks to define conditions
The strategic battle will largely focus on spatial negation versus individual excellence. The French like to stretch the field, using the devastating speed of Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola on the flanks to pin the full-backs deep and open up channels for Mbappé to make isolated passes inside the box.
Paraguay’s project will center around a hyper-disciplined defensive unit designed to limit space in central channels. Alfaro will look to overload the midfield to disrupt the distribution of Aurélien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot, looking to quickly pass the ball to Miguel Almiron and Enciso to hit France on the counter-attack.
Settled buildings will face a final inspection
Paraguay face a tough task keeping a clean sheet against a striker who has scored two or more goals in 16 of his last 17 international matches.
France must show absolute concentration in the transition phases, ensuring that they do not allow early controls to breed passivity against a Paraguayan team that has proven to be completely clinical in turning defensive moves into sudden attacking dynamics.
Probably Paraguay XI vs France
Jill; Caceres, G. Gomez, Canale, Alonso; Galarza, Cubas, D. Gomez; Almiron, Avalos, Enciso
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Probably France XI vs Paraguay
Maignan; Kaunde, Upamecano, Salt, Worthy; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Barcola; Mbappe
Key statistics for Paraguay and France
- Paraguay exited the playoffs for the second time. Their only previous success in five attempts before the triumph over Germany also came in a penalty shoot-out victory over Japan in the 2010 round of 16 after a 0–0 draw.
- Julio Enciso’s goal against Germany was the first goal in the World Cup knockout stages for Paraguay, who had failed to score in their previous five matches.
- France’s last World Cup match against South America was a penalty shootout loss to Argentina in the 2022 final. They had not previously lost to a CONMEBOL team, either in regulation time or in a penalty shootout, since their 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the 1978 group stage.
- France won their first four World Cup matches for only the second time, the previous being in 1998. After this match, they drew 0-0 with Italy in the quarter-finals and advanced to the semi-finals via penalties.
- France became the first team in World Cup history to score three or more goals in five matches in a row.
- The match against Sweden marked the seventh time Kylian Mbappe has scored two or more goals in a World Cup match, more than any other player.
Paraguay team of 26 people.
Goalkeepers: Gatito Fernandez, Orlando Gill, Gaston Olveira
Defenders: Juan Caceres, Gustavo Gomez, Gustavo Velasquez, Fabian Balbuena, Junior Alonso, Omar Alderete, Jose Canale, Alexandro Maidana
Midfielders: Damian Bobadilla, Andres Cubas, Diego Gomez, Matias Galarza, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Brian Ojeda, Mauricio Magalhães, Gustavo Caballero
Attackers: Alex Arce, Miguel Almiron, Isidro Pitta, Ramon Sosa, Gabriel Avalos, Antonio Sanabria, Julio Enciso
French team, 26 people.
Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan, Robin Risser, Brice Samba
Defenders: Lucas Digne, Malo Gusto, Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Ibrahima Konate, Maxence Lacroix, Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante, Manu Kone, Adrien Rabiot, Aurélien Tchouameni, Warren Zaire-Emery
Forwards: Magnes Akluche, Bradley Barcola, Ryan Cerki, Ousmane Dembele, Désiré Douhet, Michael Olise, Kylian Mbappe, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Marcus Thuram
Team news and rosters
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Gustavo Alfaro has no confirmed injury problems or suspension for Paraguay ahead of this match, and the possible squad lineup has not been disclosed. Updates will be added closer to the start of the match when the lineup picture becomes clearer.
Didier Deschamps also has no confirmed absences listed in the current France figures. The manager has named a fixed squad for the match against Sweden, featuring Mbappe, Olise, Dembele and Barcola, and there is no sign that the line-up will change significantly. Any latest fitness news will be reflected here before kick-off.
Injuries and suspended players
Form
Paraguay come into this match with a mixed record of late, having won three of their last five matches. Their last result was a 1-1 win over Germany in the World Cup group stage, which was enough to secure promotion. They also beat Turkey 1-0 and Nicaragua 4-0, although a 4-1 defeat to the USA and a goalless draw with Australia show inconsistency throughout the campaign. In five matches, Alfaro’s team scored six goals and conceded five.
France arrived with five wins from five in their latest series. Deschamps’ side beat Sweden 3-0 in the round of 16 before posting a perfect group stage that included wins over Norway, Iraq and Senegal. Their only non-World Cup result of the series was a 3-1 friendly win over Northern Ireland. France scored 14 goals and conceded just two in those five matches, with France keeping a clean sheet in two of the five games.
Head-to-head record
Games with a total of more than 2.5 goals1/3Both teams scored1/3
Head-to-head statistics between the two countries are limited but largely favor France. The last meeting took place in a friendly match in June 2017, when France won 5:0. Previously, a friendly match in June 2014 ended 1-1, and a friendly match in May 2008 ended goalless. In the three recorded meetings, France won once, drew twice and scored six goals to Paraguay’s one.
Tournament table
Paraguay finished third in Group D heading into the knockout stages, while France topped Group I and emerged as group winners.