EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPHILADELPHIA -- It wasn't pretty and it took some time, but a 70th minute penalty from Kylian Mbapp broke the deadlock as France advanced to the round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Paraguay.It took some time for the game to really evolve in the sweltering summer heat, and both sides exchanged fouls and angry words throughout a first half with just five shots and a combined xG of 0.20 (Paraguay 0.05, France 0.15). In the end, France earned a penalty when Paraguay captain Gustavo Gmez felled sub Dsir Dou inside the area, and after a lengthy delay for VAR review, referee Ilgiz Tantashev pointed to the spot.Up stepped Mbappe, sending goalkeeper Orlando Gill the wrong way and producing the winning margin. The goal, Mbappe's seventh of the World Cup, ties Argentina's Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. It also makes him just the second player (alongside Messi) to score seven or more times at two different World Cups, with both doing it in 2022 and 2026.Up next for France is a date with Morocco in Boston on Thursday, while La Albirroja head home with heads held high.ESPN's Gab Marcotti, Rob Dawson and Julien Laurens break down the action from Philly.France pass a different kind of test vs. ParaguayAfter beating up Senegal (in the second half), Iraq and Norway's B-team in group play followed by a thoroughly overmatched Sweden in the round of 32, Paraguay presented an entirely different type of opponent. One high on the adrenaline of knocking out four-time winners Germany, and also one doubly convinced that the formula that led to that victory could work in a knockout setting.A low block to deny France's "Fab Four" (Mbappe, Ousmane Dembl, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola) any space behind. Breaking up the game at every opportunity, whether by deploying a crunching tackle, taking a little longer to get up after a collision, jawing with an opponent or the Uzbek ref Tantashev and hoping that their roadrunners, Miguel Almirn and Julio Enciso, could nick something at the other end, usually by themselves.And they did all this in the oven of South Philly, where temperatures and a heat dome made this the toastiest day in more than a decade.- World Cup match schedule: All fixtures, results, features- World Cup Power Rankings: Who's No. 1 in round of 16 field?- World Cup recap: Cape Verde overshadow Taylor Swift, Morocco and France reach quarterfinalsFrench boss Didier Deschamps knew this was coming. He could have tweaked his team or his approach before kickoff to best counter this; heck knows he has more than enough options. But he's an old hand, a guy who knows the percentages better than most. He left his France team largely unchanged -- save for Manu Kon replacing the battered and hobbled Aurlien Tchouamni -- almost as if to say to his front four: "You guys figure it out, you know what's coming."It was a test and, really, a low-risk test, because trying to do what Paraguay wanted to do is very difficult. Concede a goal -- either as a result of a moment of genius or a mistake (whether by you or the referee) -- and you're basically done. That was the likeliest outcome. Only that didn't happen, because Paraguay were smart, compact and physical; in fact, Deschamps' forwards couldn't figure out how to get their shots off, much less take good ones.The vaunted quartet of Kylian Mbappe, Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise had taken just one through the first half. Overall, Les Bleus had managed just five, the other four being central midfielders Kone and Adrien Rabiot jacking up the equivalent of desperation three-pointers from outside the box.Still, Deschamps gave his team time and as things got heated and more physical, he trusted his players not to react to provocation. By and large, they didn't.At the hour mark, he made the obvious change -- Desire Doue for Bradley Barcola, different profiles in broadly the same system -- and ten minutes later he had his result, when Doue's slashing run across the box ended up in Paraguay conceding a VAR-assisted penalty. Mbappe brought it home from the spot."We have attacking quality, but any team will find things complicated against such a low block," said Deschamps after the match. "Especially when intensity drops, which will happen in these conditions."From there, it was about seeing things out and that's what they did, keeping their heads as Paraguay turned the screws, without descending into indiscipline. (The yellow cards for Kone and Olise are obviously sub-optimal, but you can live with them.)Said Mbappe after the game, "we knew what kind of game we were going to get, but we showed that we are not just a team that can play attacking football. If we have to 'get our hands dirty,' we will get our hands dirty. We have no issue with that."France played the sort of opponent they hadn't faced in this World Cup, in conditions they hadn't experienced (not to this level, anyway) and with a first-half that could have led to panic or insecurity. They navigated the test and while it's unlikely they'll face a situation like this again, now they have the battle scars to be better prepared should it happen. -- MarcottiAre Paraguay's tactics legitimate?Paraguay set out to frustrate Germany in the last round and it worked. They did the same thing against France and it went well for 70 minutes until Mbappe's penalty.Every stoppage was dragged out for as long as possible. Every chance to waste time was taken -- including one Paraguay defender booting the ball into the second tier of the stadium in the hope of taking up a few more valuable seconds.There were late challenges, barging off the ball and the entire Paraguay bench jumping up to ask for yellow cards after every France foul.The lack of any flow and rhythm didn't make a great game for the neutral. But is the quality of the football on show Paraguay's responsibility? They tired to do it in a different way in their opening game against the United States and got thumped 4-1. Had they tried to be expansive against France, it could have been even worse.Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro would argue that he has a duty to play to the strengths of his players. And it would have been pointless to attempt to go toe-to-toe with a team which boosts some of the best attacking talent in the world. The qualified for the World Cup on the back of an impressive defensive record and went back to what they know.Deschamps was all too aware of how this game could have gone a very different way. "If we had responded to provocation, like Germany did, it could have gone very badly for us. I'm happy with my team's behaviour."The counter-point, though, is Cape Verde. In his post-match news conference after Friday's 3-2 defeat to Argentina in Miami, head coach Bubista made the point more than once that his team could have approached the tournament in a different way. He also said -- pointedly -- that his players had committed very few fouls throughout the World Cup. He didn't say it directly, but the inference was that Cape Verde tried to play in the right way, as opposed to other underdog nations who turned up to spoil games as best they could.Obviously, there's no right or wrong answer. Part of the beauty of a World Cup is different countries with different strengths and styles coming up against each other and seeing what happens. Paraguay's tactics -- questionable or not -- earned them one big shock against Germany, and it got them close to another against France. -- DawsonParallels emerging with 1998 teamIf there is one head coach who knows that winning is the one and only thing, it is Deschamps. Shaped by the Italian school of "the result is the most important thing in football," both as a player and a manager, the France boss will enjoy this win against Paraguay. And if there is one man who knows what it is to beat the South American team in the round of 16 at a World Cup, with a lot of difficulty against a team who is just there to defend and break the game's rhythm, it is him too!Back in 1998 on home soil, Deschamps and his France teammates went through almost exactly the same scenario. It was tough for them in Lens back then too; they struggled to breakdown the Paraguay defence and their goalkeeper Jose-Luis Chilavert. In similar heat, they needed a miracle from Laurent Blanc (of all people) to win thanks to a golden goal in extra time with just six minutes to go.This time they won it earlier in the second half, but the parallels are nevertheless striking. Deschamps will also know that back in 1998, the win against the Paraguayans unlocked something for his team. It was arguably the key moment on their road to winning the 1998 World Cup -- more than the penalty shootout against Italy in the quarterfinals, or the Thuram unbelievable brace in the semi finals or even angel Zidane in the final.After beating Paraguay, that 1998 team felt lighter, stronger and like nothing could happen to them. This current generation had a proper test in Philadelphia on Saturday as well, and maybe this too will push them on to winning it all, starting with Morocco in the quarterfinals in Boston on Thursday. -- Laurens
