PLAYER REVIEWS | Paraguay 0-1 France: Kylian Mbappé's penalty goal sends Les Bleus into the quarter-finals after a difficult battle

In a tense and pressure-filled match, Kylian Mbappé's second-half penalty became an important turning point, helping France advance to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup after defeating Paraguay 1-0. The South American team tried to make things difficult and slow down the pace of the match by playing tight defense and using tactical fouls. This plan made the situation more tense throughout the match.

Les Bleus entered the match with confidence after a 3-0 victory over Sweden. With coach Didier Deschamps returning to the bench, the French team has set the goal of not only winning but also creating momentum for their goal of regaining the championship title they missed in 2022.

In the first 10 minutes, Paraguay proactively sat deep and accepted that they could not play on foot with France, they looked for opportunities from set-piece situations and counter-attacks. However, in the first 20 minutes, both teams only created a few opportunities. One of the notable situations was that Barcola was given a yellow card after a collision unrelated to Caceres.

In the second half, Rabiot had another long-range shot but was unsuccessful, while Paraguay's Almiron also had an intrusion but was unable to finish successfully. In the 60th minute, Doué came on for Barcola and immediately made an impact when he entered the penalty area and was touched by Diego Gomez. After consulting VAR, the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Mbappé made no mistake when taking the penalty, scoring the decisive goal for Les Bleus. From there, France controlled the match and maintained its advantage until the final whistle blew. Paraguay tried to find an equalizer but failed, Maignan made important saves to preserve France's victory. In the end, Mbappé's goal helped France win a ticket to the quarterfinals, continuing their journey to conquer the World Cup.