France booked their place in the quarterfinals of the World Cup with an emphatic 1-0 win over Paraguay, but much of the attention after the match focused on Paraguay’s performance rather than the result.After impressing the fans by eliminating Germany on penalties in the previous round, Paraguay were criticized for their aggressive performance in a dangerous and ugly contest in Philadelphia. Speaking to BBC One, former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said: “The Paraguayan players were a disgrace. If they were in my team, I would have dragged them off the pitch.”Several incidents involving players in Paraguay were not punished, including problems with Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappewhile the French players received several yellow cards. Former England international Micah Richards said: “It was embarrassing to see. Paraguay is better than that. Defensively they were very good and didn’t need to get into these things. “The last moment of the game came 20 minutes after Desire Doue was brought down in the box. After reviewing the action on the monitor, referee Ilgiz Tantashev awarded France a penalty.Paraguay’s players protested and tried to slow down the shot, with Gustavo Velazquez trying to clear the area before Mbappe converted to score his seventh goal of the tournament, equaling Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race.France coach Didier Deschamps later revealed: “There was some insults that created another bench that we wouldn’t have been without.”The brawl continued at the final whistle as the players clashed again. Former Scotland international Pat Nevin summed up Paraguay’s approach by saying: “Paraguay tried to confuse the French players, a bit of pushing and shoving but it wasn’t enough to get a yellow card. Any dark skill you can use.”France will now face Morocco in the quarterfinals.
