France Survive Paraguay’s ‘Disgraceful’ and ‘Embarrassing’ Dark Arts
After dismantling their opponents at this World Cup, France had to find a new way to win to stay alive in their pursuit of reclaiming the trophy they last lifted in 2018. Their 1-0 victory over Paraguay was hard-earned.
Paraguay’s ‘Dirty Tricks’
- Gustavo Velazquez kicked the penalty spot to try to scuff it up before Kylian Mbappe’s penalty.
- Dayot Upamecano received an elbow in the ribs.
- Matias Galarza put his hand in Jules Kounde’s face.
- Galarza went down when Michael Olise grabbed his shirt to get him booked.
- Andres Cubas went through Adrien Rabiot with a poor tackle.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart criticized Paraguay’s behavior, calling it ‘disgraceful’ and ’embarrassing’. ‘It was embarrassing to see,’ former England defender Micah Richards added.
France Advance to Quarter-Finals
The victory secured a quarter-final date with Morocco at Boston Stadium on Thursday (21:00 BST kick-off).
Mbappe is now level with Lionel Messi in the all-time list of World Cup goalscorers after taking his tally to 19 in 19 tournament games.
