Kylian Mbappe moved level with Lionel Messi for most goals at this World Cup by scoring his seventh of the tournament with a penalty to defeat a fierce Paraguay side who made life very difficult for France in the extreme heat of Philadelphia.

France reached the World Cup quarter-finals after a bruising win over Paraguay, but the final whistle brought another tense moment as Didier Deschamps moved quickly to keep his players away from further trouble.

Now 250 years later, on the fourth of July and in the city of Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed, France used that as a motivator and, through hard work and perseverance, it came out victorious against a stubborn Paraguay with a hard-fought 1-0 win thanks to Kylian Mbappé's penalty shot.

By Rohith Nair July 5 (Reuters) - Paraguay's remarkable World Cup journey came to a grinding halt against France, but not before the South American underdogs proved that good old-fashioned grit and a few questionable tactics can still rattle football's elite.

French newspaper L'Equipe gave World Cup referee Ilgiz Tantashev just their third 1/10 rating for an official in a decade after failing to clamp down on Paraguay's 'dark arts' in their World Cup last-16 tie.

Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele came up with a brilliant move to foil Paraguay's shocking tactic during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match.

None of the teams before had made France look this uncomfortable. Paraguay, ranked 41st in the world and running on the adrenaline of knocking out Germany a round earlier, was supposed to be more of the same.

The 2026 World Cup continues on Saturday night, and the Kalshi promo code CBSSPORTS gives new users a $15 bonus after $15 in trades. France faces Paraguay at 5 p.m. ET following Morocco's 3-0 win over Canada.