2026 World Cup: Kylian Mbappé Scores on a Penalty Kick; France Advances to the Quarterfinals, Paraguay Eliminated

France advances to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup with minimal effort. In fact, a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappé was all it took to break Paraguay’s resistance, defeating them 1-0—a result that mirrors their 1998 matchup, which also took place in the round of 16. Les Bleus thus untangled a situation that could have proven complicated—not so much because of the Albirroja team’s performance on the field, which was far too cautious and lackluster, but rather due to the record-breaking heat in Philadelphia. Even before the match began, the heat had threatened to cause a postponement. Now Didier Deschamps’ team awaits Morocco in a match scheduled for Thursday, July 9, which promises to be far more intense.

From the very opening moments, the action on the field followed a single pattern: France attacked, while Paraguay tried to close down all the spaces and perhaps capitalize on a few counterattacks. Right away, Cubas beat Mbappé to the ball on a run by Dembélé down the right. The Les Bleus captain himself failed to capitalize on a nice through ball from Koné, just minutes before the Roma midfielder took a shot himself, narrowly missing the target. Then Mbappé and Rabiot each created two other fairly clear scoring chances, but both missed the target. The South Americans, however, also faced a scare when Velazquez made a blunder, with Cubas clearing a potential spectacular own goal off the line at the last second.

In sweltering Philadelphia, the pace remained fairly measured even in the second half, which opened with a prodigious save by Caceres against the ever-present Mbappé. It wasn’t until the 55th minute, however, that Gill made his first real save on another attempt by a particularly inspired Koné. Deschamps brought on Doué in place of a lackluster Barcola, and the substitute immediately entered the box and went down after contact with Diego Gomez. Uzbek referee Tantashev, after consulting the VAR, awarded a penalty, which Mbappé converted in the 70th minute, sending Gill the wrong way. Paraguay’s reaction was virtually nonexistent, save for a late scare in stoppage time when Maignan was forced into a difficult two-part save. Mbappé, meanwhile, came close to doubling the lead on three occasions, including twice in the same play: Gill made the save, but there was nothing his team could do.

A match that, as mentioned, nearly didn’t take place at the scheduled time. At Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the thermometer hit 38°C, with heat index readings nearing 46° given humidity levels above 40%. As noted by *The New York Times*, never before in World Cup history had a match been played in such sweltering temperatures, surpassing even the previous record set in the United States on June 24, 1994, when Ireland and Mexico faced off in Orlando with the field temperature exceeding 43°. To address the emergency, organizers had set up dozens of misting stations along the route to the stadium and as many as ten free water distribution points. The threat of bad weather further weighed on the atmosphere: rain was expected in the Pennsylvania city around 8:00 p.m. local time, with a risk of thunderstorms that—as the 2026 World Cup had already demonstrated during the suspension of the France-Iraq match—would have automatically delayed kickoff.

As for absences, Deschamps had to do without Aurélien Tchouaméni, a Real Madrid mainstay sidelined by a muscle strain in his left thigh. Manu Koné, who had previously seen action in the tournament, stepped in for him and delivered a solid performance, culminating in a shot in the 55th minute that seriously tested Gill. It was a necessary choice by the head coach, but it did not prevent Les Bleus from easily controlling the match.

With his goal from the penalty spot, Mbappé has now scored seven goals in this World Cup and brought his total to 19 in World Cup history, moving even closer to the all-time record held by Lionel Messi. The Argentine, who had reached 20 goals by scoring against Cape Verde in the round of 16, maintains a lead of just one goal over the Les Bleus captain. It’s a battle within a battle that gains a new chapter with each round, with age—Mbappé is 27 compared to Messi’s 39, in his final World Cup—inevitably working in the Frenchman’s favor.

Awaiting France in the quarterfinals will be Morocco, which on Saturday evening eliminated Canada with a decisive 3-0 victory in Houston. The Atlas Lions secured the victory thanks to a brace by Azzedine Ounahi and a late goal by Soufiane Rahimi, with Brahim Diaz and Achraf Hakimi playing key roles in orchestrating the team’s play. For the North Africans—who were semifinalists in Qatar in 2022—this is yet another sign of their unstoppable rise. The match on Thursday, July 9, promises to be one of the most exciting quarterfinal matches of the entire tournament.