Paraguay 0-1 France: Mbappe settles it from the spot but the spoiling nearly worked

[BrittleQuarry]

France are through to a quarterfinal against Morocco but let us be honest about what we watched in Philadelphia, because Paraguay turned that game into a swamp and came within twenty minutes of dragging the favourites under. The first half produced five shots COMBINED and a total xG of 0.20, every stoppage stretched to breaking point, one defender booting the ball into the second tier just to burn seconds, and off the ball nastiness that went completely unpunished

The referee Tantashev had a shocker by common consent, Galarza striking out at Kounde away from play with no action taken, Caceres somehow finishing the match uncarded despite a highlight reel of late hits, and the whole thing simmering into a full scuffle after the final whistle. Paraguay did exactly this to Germany last round and it worked, so you cannot even call it an accident, it is a functioning system

The difference was one moment and one man, Gomez felling the substitute Doue in the box, a long VAR delay, and Mbappe sending Gill the wrong way on 70. That is his 19th World Cup goal in 19 appearances, his seventh of this tournament to retake the Golden Boot lead from Messi on the assists tiebreaker, and Gill still had time to deny him a second with a stunning double save at the death

Credit where due on both sides, Paraguay's defending for an hour was genuinely heroic even if the dark arts around it were grim, and France passing their first real examination in sweltering heat without panicking is exactly what champions in waiting do, five straight wins at a single World Cup for the first time in their history

So the debate floor is open. Is spoiling like that legitimate knockout football or does the game need to protect itself from it, should the referee performance be the bigger story, and France against Morocco in Boston on Thursday is a rematch of the 2022 semifinal, who fancies the Atlas Lions this time?

France pass toughest World Cup test yet in beating feisty Paraguaywww.espn.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OxGV8aVG-k

[TheGame]

I love these highlights clips, thanks for adding them.

I've never seen so many fouls not get a yellow

[Caitlin_69]

Spoiling is legitimate and I will defend it forever, a team with a fraction of the talent has two options, play the beautiful game and lose 4-0 or make it ugly and have a puncher's chance. Paraguay chose survival and nearly pulled off two giant killings in a row with it

[Mia86]

There is a line though and striking opponents off the ball is on the wrong side of it, time wasting and low blocks are tactics, hitting Kounde when the ref is not looking is just cheating with a romantic nickname

[EarlyBird]

The referee IS the story for me, the dark arts only function when the official lets them, book the first three late hits and the whole system collapses by half time. Tantashev did not just miss calls, he licensed a style of play

[ShadowPilot]

19 goals in 19 World Cup appearances is a stat that deserves a moment of silence, we are watching one of the greatest tournament players ever and half the discourse tonight is about a bloke kicking a ball into row Z

[AlexaBliss_Fan]

The bloke kicking it into row Z was the funniest moment of the round though, there is a dark comedy to a man launching the match ball into the upper deck like he is opening a supermarket

[Amelia82]

Gill deserves his own paragraph, that double save from Mbappe in stoppage time was the best piece of goalkeeping this tournament, he leaves as one of its quiet stars

[VoidRanger40]

France worry answer, they still have not scored from open play against a properly set defence when it mattered, a penalty won by a substitute is a fine result and a thin process. Morocco will have watched that with a notebook

[QuantumToken98]

Morocco fancy this massively and should, they have the fitness, the organisation and now the blueprint, plus a 2022 score to settle. Thursday in Boston is closer to a coin flip than the rankings suggest

[ThreadNecro98]

The Deschamps decision to change nothing before the game and let the players solve it is the veteran move the analysis piece nails, some managers coach the opponent, he coached the composure

[TheGame92]

Neutral confession, I watched a 1-0 with an xG of about 1.5 total and was gripped for every second of it, sometimes the war is the entertainment and nobody has to apologise

[Depot76]

Prediction thread material, if France beat Morocco again the way this tournament is going they meet either Spain or Portugal later with everything on the line, the bracket is assembling something special while we argue about time wasting