Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty as France overcame scorching heat and stubborn defending to beat Paraguay 1-0 to set up a World Cup quarter-final against Morocco on Saturday.
France captain Mbappe coolly converted the penalty in the 70th minute to end a tense duel with the dogged Paraguayans in tense conditions at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
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The goal was Mbappe’s seventh against Lionel Messi, putting him alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament’s Golden Boot.
Paraguay, who suffered a huge defeat in their last 32 matches to oust four-time champions Germany on penalties, have frustrated France for long periods with hyper-disciplined defensive play.
But the introduction of substitute Desiree Douhet for left winger Bradley Barcola in the 61st minute led to the breakthrough.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Douai burst menacingly from the left and weaved past several Paraguayan players before being brought down in the box by Diego Gomez.
There was a slight delay after referee Ilgiz Tantashev allowed play to continue, but when the incident was sent to VAR, the Uzbek official quickly pointed to the spot.
Mbappe stepped up and duly executed with aplomb to win out the match, which was played in temperatures of around 38 degrees as a heat wave scorched the northeastern United States during the Fourth of July holiday celebrations.
France will now face Morocco in the quarter-finals in Foxboro, near Boston, on Thursday. This is a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final won by Les Bleus.
MOROCCO THE END OF CANADA THE DREAM
Morocco booked their place in the last eight earlier Saturday after ending Canada’s national soccer team campaign with a convincing 3-0 win in Houston.
Two goals from Azzedine Unahi and Soufiane Rahimi’s injury-time strike sealed Morocco’s victory at NRG Stadium.
The reigning African champions, who put in a superb performance to eliminate the Netherlands in the last 32 matches, had to work hard for a victory for the Canadian team, which dominated the early exchanges of a physical contest.
But Morocco made the decisive breakthrough just after the break when Unahi unleashed a powerful shot low from the edge of the area.
Unahi made victory inevitable with eight minutes left in the match with Rahimi’s second goal on the counter-attack and Canada headed for the exit from the tournament.
“We are very happy,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi. “This is a World Cup match and these are tough games where teams are playing for their lives. Canada was impressive – they played their best game. It wasn’t a surprise for us, but in the second half we were able to capitalize on the space they left us – that was the key.”
Morocco is the first African country to reach the quarter-finals of back-to-back World Cups, further evidence of the team’s emergence among the world’s elite football powers.
“Today we are no longer a surprise, and that is a great source of pride,” Wahby said.
“I think this is just the beginning, and I hope we continue to produce episodes like this for many years to come.” Canada coach Jesse Marsh said he thought his team was the better team but paid for the poor performance.
“We were the better team,” Marsh said. “They just didn’t have much quality in the final third and we lacked the ability to make plays when we needed to.”
Originally published as World Cup: Kylian Mbappe leads France into quarter-final clash with Morocco