France’s Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match FIFA World Cup Round of 16 ,match against Paraguay in Philadelphia Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. – July 4, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Imagn Images via REUTERS

Kylian Mbappé scored his 19th career World Cup goal, and France survived stifling heat to beat Paraguay 1-0 on Saturday, sending Les Bleus into the quarterfinals for the fourth straight time.

Also read | Morocco beat World Cup co-host Canada 3-0 and advances to the quarterfinals

France advanced to play Morocco on Thursday (July 9, 2026) in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

With an extreme heat warning in effect throughout the match as temperatures hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), Mbappé finally broke through against a physical, defensive-minded Paraguay side when he converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute.

Teams:

Paraguay – Orlando ‌Gill; Juan Jose Caceres, Gustavo Gomez (captain), Gustavo Velazquez, Omar Alderete, Junior Alonso; Miguel Almiron, Diego Gomez, Andres Cubas, ‌Matias Galarza; Julio Enciso

France – Mike Maignan; Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, ⁠Lucas Digne; Manu Kone, ⁠Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Bradley ‌Barcola; Kylian Mbappe (captain)

(Inputs from Reuters, AP)