Paraguay – France: Mbappé Laughs Last In Battle Of Philadelphia (0-1)

If not for Bradley Barcola picking up a yellow in the first half or Michael Olise for wagging his finger, you would have thought that the referee forgot to pack his cards. Paraguay would come out spotless in a match that was littered with hacks and fouls, as they successfully broke up a France attack that was purring coming into this match. Only an intervention from VAR would see some justice meted out, as Kylian Mbappé laughed last with his 19th goal in 19 games at the World Cup. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

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Not many would have given Paraguay much hope of reaching the Round of 16 when they were dismantled by the USA in their opening fixture. That 4-1 defeat, however, feels like a very long time ago. Since then, Gustavo Alfaro’s side have rediscovered the gritty defensive work that saw them qualify for the World Cup, and came into this match having conceded only one further goal. That lone effort came in perhaps one of the greatest games in Los Guaraníes’ modern history, and the shock of the tournament as they eliminated Germany on penalties in the Round of 32. 

Paraguay’s reward would be a meeting with favorites France. In his final tournament with Les Bleus, Didier Deschamps has his France side purring. The handbrake that has so often defined his tenure has been lifted, and the attackers have been freed to tear apart defenses. Thirteen goals have been scored across their first four games, and the question coming into this match was whether anyone would be able to find a way to stop Les Bleus’ star-studded frontline from finding the back of the net. 

Alfaro would pick a 5-4-1 shape. Orlando Gill sat behind the wall of defenders, which was made up of Júnior Alonso, Omar Alderete, Gustavo Gómez, Gustavo Velázquez, and Juan José Cáceres. In the midfield, Diego Gómez and Andrés Cubas sat as the double pivot and were flanked by Matías Galarza and Miguel Almirón. Up top, Ligue 1’s Julio Enciso was left as the lone striker. 

Deschamps would go with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation. Mike Maignan in goal with a backline of Lucas Digne, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, and Jules Koundé. Adrien Rabiot was joined by Manu Koné in midfield for the injured Aurélien Tchouaméni. Bradley Barcola kept his spot on the left, with Michael Olise in the middle, and Ousmane Dembélé on the right. Kylian Mbappé was the number nine. 

Set in stone

The rhythm of the game was set in stone before the first whistle was blown. Both sides knew how this match was going to play out and set up accordingly. France dominated the ball with 76% possession, while Paraguay shifted between a medium and low 5-4-1 block that asked the favorites to figure out the solution to breaking them down. 

Despite an array of glittering attackers on offer, France struggled to create the necessary tension to unravel Paraguay’s block in the first half. All too often, it was comfortable for the South Americans, with the game played out on their terms despite not seeing much of the ball. Paraguay were aggressive despite their deep shape, blocking the center, funnelling the play wide, and then closing down the winger with a 2v1 that forced France into a constant cycle of probing play and recycling possession. 

Paraguay’s shape was largely behind this, with them able to commit both the wing-back and the winger to closing down France’s wide man, while still having numbers in the center to maintain a solid defensive structure, if the wide defensive overload failed to repel the attack. 

15th minute: France focus down the right. Koundé plays the ball wide to Dembélé, then attacks the halfspace. Koné takes up the space vacated by the fullback. Paraguay’s shape allows them to commit a 2v1 on Dembélé, while Veláquez and Cubas mark up the receivers. A pocket of space opens where Cubas has been dragged forward, which Mbappé or Olise could attack with a fourth man run, which would have unravelled the block, but no one makes the movement. France recycle the ball back to the center-backs from this position. 

France focused their efforts primarily down the right side, with Dembélé providing the width by hugging the touchline, while Koundé moved up into the half-space. Koné and Olise would drift close to the two wide men to offer short interactions, while Olise’s movement could also open up positional switches with Dembélé. For this to work, France needed to play with a bit of zip and to commit off-ball runners to attack the pockets that would open as Paraguay committed men wide. However, that was lacking, and the end result was that France were frustrated in the first half, unable to position themselves in a way that they could infiltrate the box.

Les Bleus were left to launch potshots in the small moments when Koné and Rabiot were given space just outside the box. With Paraguay content to allow them the chance to shoot, and deny that same opportunity to the more threatening talents of Mbappé, Olise, Dembélé, and Barcola. 

Lost to the dark arts 

Of the two sides, Paraguay would have been the far happier coming into the second half. They managed to deny France a clear-cut opportunity. And while they had similarly created next to nothing, their game plan was more reliant on waiting for one moment to open itself rather than through consistent chance creation. If that meant waiting until the dying minutes of the game, so be it. With the expectation being that, as the game wore on, France would make a mistake as they searched for the winner. 

Paraguay’s game plan was given a significant helping hand from the referee. His leniency encouraged the red and white shirts to make ever more blatant infringements as they got away with tactical foul after tactical foul. For some reason, the yellow card remained firmly in Ilgiz Tantashev’s pocket. Some of the tackles and off-ball behavior from the Paraguayans went beyond the pale and turned into thuggery. And it was simply baffling that of the two teams, France would be the only one to end the match with a player booked. 

Before the hour mark, Alfaro made his first change with Alderete replaced by José Canale. A few minutes later, he was forced to make his second alteration with Enciso picking up an injury and Gustavo Caballero entering the fray. Deschamps matched his counterpart, putting on Désiré Doué in place of Barcola. It was a bit surprising that Doué was not picked for this game; Barcola better excels when there is a bit more space for him to run into, while Doué is far more comfortable operating in tight spaces. 

However, Deschamps timing was immaculate, and Doué’s introduction added some energy to the France squad. The Paris Saint-Germain winger picked the ball up wide and would look to drive at the Paraguay box, using close control to drift past tackles and bait mistakes. Three minutes into his cameo, and he would do exactly that, drawing a hasty challenge from D. Gómez in the box. The referee would wave on play, but VAR would save his blushes and recommend that he have another look. 

Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev with an extraordinary performance. No interest in refereeing, no interest in applying the laws of the game, no interest in player welfare or well-being. A FIFA listed referee for 13 years! France very fortunate to avoid serious injuries.

— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) July 4, 2026

Chaos ensues

It would take five minutes between Gómez’s foul on Doué and Mbappé being allowed to step up and take his spot kick. During that time, Velázquez would scuff the penalty spot in front of the referee and go unpunished. The Paraguay players attempted to delay and put off the French side, but Mbappé would not be intimidated. The France captain, with a stuttering run, sent Gill the wrong way and delivered France what they needed most. 

After the goal, any semblance of reason was lost as desperation took hold of the Paraguayans. The tackles they delivered were brutal as they tried to make France lose their temper and commit a mistake. There was one moment late in the match when Mbappé suffered a brutal flying tackle from Galarza that went unpunished. Mbappé stood his ground and laughed in the face of the winger, and then was followed by three players as they waited for him to receive the ball and mete out a perverse form of justice. 

With Paraguay a goal down, the game opened up somewhat. The game state encouraged them to step out of the low block and chase an equalizer. This opened up what had been an exceptionally organized defense as they began to press in a 4-4-2 shape. In turn, France were offered the space that they had been denied for almost the entire game, while Paraguay’s chance creation wasn’t improved by their change in mentality. An exceptional double save from Gill denied Mbappé from putting the game out of reach within an extended injury time. 

90+9th minute: Paraguay’s 4-4-2 shape. France find space to progress quickly up the pitch. Doué draws a marker, opening up the channel for Mbappé.

Takeaways

Paraguay leave the tournament having gained plaudits for their win over Germany, but may well have lost just as many for the way they went out to France. There was a real sense that they wanted to physically hurt this French team, which felt almost like a child throwing a tantrum, willing to break something precious because they couldn’t get their own way. This was enabled by a shameful refereeing performance that put the player’s safety at risk. 

A lot has to be said for the France performance. This wasn’t the routs that they had become used to, but they rose to the challenge in exceptionally difficult circumstances. The way they managed to keep their cool and rise above some of the dirty tricks was impressive. Les Bleus proved that they can win ugly when forced to get their hands filthy. 

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