France booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals after a hard-fought victory over a resilient Paraguay side. According to match reports, Didier Deschamps" men struggled to impose their usual dominant style during the opening hour of play, largely due to the tactical discipline and intense defensive work rate displayed by the South American players, who successfully neutralized the French offensive surges.
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Subscribe Sekarang →The tactical deadlock was broken in the second half when the squad managed by Alfaro finally conceded. France's star forward Kylian Mbappe proved cool under pressure from the penalty spot, netting his seventh goal of the tournament. This solitary goal was enough to send Les Bleus through to the next round, where they are scheduled to face Morocco, who advanced after defeating Canada.
Based on first-half observations, the match was a highly contested physical battle with limited clear-cut opportunities. Paraguay focused on disruptive defensive work, restricting France to just two notable chances before the interval. In the 22nd minute, AS Roma midfielder Manu Kone unleashed a curling left-footed shot from outside the box that went narrowly wide, followed by a close-range miss from Mbappe, who failed to connect with the ball by mere millimeters.
The intensity increased in the second half as France intensified their offensive pressure. The decisive breakthrough came in the 65th minute when substitute Doue was brought down inside the penalty area by an ill-timed challenge from Gustavo Gomez. Although the referee initially waved play on, a VAR review prompted the official to reverse the decision and award a penalty, which Mbappe clinical converted to tie Leo Messi at the top of the tournament's goal-scoring charts.
From editorial monitoring, once France secured the lead, they effectively managed the remaining minutes by controlling possession and dictating the tempo until the final whistle. The reigning finalists showed immense maturity to see out the narrow advantage, although structural adjustments will likely be analyzed ahead of their highly anticipated quarter-final encounter against a dangerous Morocco side.