{"id":6309,"date":"2026-07-05T06:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T06:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6309"},"modified":"2026-07-05T06:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T06:37:58","slug":"for-france-a-sticky-win-over-paraguay-was-too-close-for-comfort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6309","title":{"rendered":"For France, a sticky win over Paraguay was too close for comfort"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 came through again, but Les Bleus were put to the test, raising some concerns.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more All-Star snub helps fuel Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray in 8-1 win over Angels<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Goalkeeper Orlando Gill, left, wasn\u2019t too happy after Paraguay\u2019s loss, but he frustrated France for most of the match. (Dylan Martinez\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The hottest game had ended early Saturday evening and after more than 90 minutes of elbows, shoves and kicks to the shin, the players on France and Paraguay were still hot. Players from both sides pushed. Some yelled. Anger owned the moment.<\/p>\n

The scoreboard said France had won, 1-0, to move to the quarterfinals of this World Cup, but those numbers told only part of the story.<\/p>\n

France had been tested, and everybody inside the sweltering stadium in South Philly knew it. Paraguay\u2019s defenders had used any means at their disposal to stop France\u2019s great scorers such as Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, and Les Bleus were moving on only by the grace of a generous second-half penalty kick driven home by Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n

And now, with the final whistle blown and everyone drained and bitter in the scorching late-day sun, Paraguay\u2019s goalkeeper, Orlando Gill, wanted to make peace.<\/p>\n

He tried to shake hands with the great Mbapp\u00e9, perhaps the world\u2019s best scorer whose blistering shots Gill had impossibly stopped from point-blank range. Clutching the game ball in his left palm, he held his right toward Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9, undoubtedly miffed by his inability to find the net more than once, walked past Gill.<\/p>\n

For a second, Gill looked stunned. Then he responded in the way that seemed to come naturally to this Paraguay team: with defiance.<\/p>\n

He heaved the ball into Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really got into the moment,\u201d Gill later said apologetically in Spanish. Eventually, he and Mbapp\u00e9 did shake hands.<\/p>\n

But the audacity of a goalkeeper in Argentina\u2019s Primera Divisi\u00f3n throwing a ball into the back of soccer\u2019s royal prince said something about the way Paraguay did not shrink before France \u2014 and why that might be a serious concern for the team that entered the World Cup as co-favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fills me with pride that we were able to avoid giving up goals in this game,\u201d Gill said. \u201cEspecially to this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until Saturday, France had sailed through the tournament, crushing Senegal, Iraq, Norway and Sweden by a combined score of 13-2. Mbapp\u00e9 had been almost comically dominant, appearing to score at will. Suggestions began to fly that this French team might be one of the best in World Cup history.<\/p>

Read more Gilbert dominates as Mariners beat Blue Jays 11-0 on Arozarena grand slam<\/a><\/p>\n

Paraguay gave pause to those outlandish expectations. That this side was even here seemed preposterous. Most assumed Saturday\u2019s match would be between France and Germany. Then Paraguay upset that European power on penalty kicks Monday and lived to face a sure vanquishing. After all, France is No. 1 in FIFA\u2019s official rankings and Paraguay No. 34, sandwiched in the crossfire between No. 33 Ukraine and No. 35 Russia. Neither of whom are at this World Cup.<\/p>\n

\n
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D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, second from left, drew a penalty kick that France converted for its only goal. (Jeenah Moon\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Paraguay frightened France on Saturday. A lot. It lined up a defensive wall of five and six players at the top of the box and stymied the parade of elite French ballhandlers and scorers who kept trying to push inside. Les Bleus had not faced a truly physical team in the World Cup before Saturday, and it showed on an afternoon when the temperature at kickoff was 101 degrees.<\/p>\n

France ran all over the field, slipping beautiful passes from player to player. It finished with 510 accurate passes to just 99 for Paraguay. It held onto the ball for three-quarters of the game. When it came to being elegant and skilled, France was tremendous.<\/p>\n

But La Albirroja would not let the French close to the goal or in position to take easy shots. Everything was challenged. Attempts by France\u2019s gifted wings to cut deep in the box and curl around defenders were often meet by two Paraguayan players refusing to let them pass. And when someone did get a shot off, the 6-foot-6 Gill was there to knock it away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew it was going to be very hard,\u201d French midfielder Manu Kon\u00e9 said after the match.<\/p>\n

It was even harder than it should have been, which will undoubtedly gnaw at the French players and coaches as they prepare for Thursday\u2019s semifinal against Morocco.<\/p>\n

At the end of Saturday\u2019s match, the Paraguayan team was furious with the officials. They never seemed to recover from the shock of seeing France awarded a penalty kick in the 70th<\/sup> minute when, following a review, Diego G\u00f3mez was called for tripping France\u2019s D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9 just inside the box. This allowed Mbapp\u00e9 to take his penalty kick, though not before Gill stood on top of the ball and stared down at Mbapp\u00e9, who is seven inches shorter.<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9 tried desperately to fake Gill, starting to run toward the ball, stopping, then starting, then stopping and starting again. Gill almost didn\u2019t fall for the ruse but eventually fell to the right as Mbapp\u00e9 flicked the ball to the right and into the goal.<\/p>\n

Some 20 minutes later, after the whistle \u2014 and after Gill threw the ball at Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s back \u2014 the French players ran to the south end of the stadium and sang \u201cFreed From Desire\u201d with their fans. They jumped and danced in place, celebrating a tough win.<\/p>\n

If Morocco mounts this tough of a test, they might not have anything to celebrate.<\/p>

Read more Alcantara sharp, Lopez homers to pace the Marlins past the A\u2019s, 7-2<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 came through again, but Les Bleus were put to the test, raising some concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFor France, a sticky win over Paraguay was too close for comfort - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6309\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For France, a sticky win over Paraguay was too close for comfort - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 came through again, but Les Bleus were put to the test, raising some concerns.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6309\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-05T06:37:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4ee34bfde6f2cb99867de391ee3698b8-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1806\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"For France, a sticky win over Paraguay was too close for comfort\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-05T06:37:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309\"},\"wordCount\":983,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/63df9961cb845682bbdf0fd5223729c9-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6309\",\"name\":\"For France, a sticky win over Paraguay was too close for comfort - 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