French superstar Kylian Mbappe scored his seventh goal of the FIFA World Cup 2026 as France beat Paraguay by a solitary goal at Philadelphia Stadium.
France will meet Morocco in the quarter-finals.
Mbappe’s penalty in the 70th minute decided the match. His crucial goal leaves him just one behind Lionel Messi’s all-time World Cup tally of 20.
It was also Mbappe’s record-extending 11th World Cup knockout-stage goal.
Paraguay’s Orlando Gill was adjudged the Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match.
Earlier, Morocco knocked co-hosts Canada out of the tournament with a convincing 3-0 win in Houston.
Azzedine Ounahi’s second-half brace and a late goal by Soufiane Rahimi were enough for Morocco to qualify for the next round.
Ounahi was named the Superior Player of the Match.
Later, Canada Coach Jesse Marsch said: “They made a couple more plays than us, but cranking up the intensity was not the issue. It’s just that they have a little more quality in the final third, and we could not make a play when we needed it. But in terms of the match plan, the idea of how we want to play football, and the idea of a group of guys believing in themselves, going after it, and taking on a top team that hasn’t lost for I don’t even know how long, we were the much better team in the first half and even at the beginning of the second half.”
Morocco Coach Mohamed Ouahbi said: “We are very happy. It’s a World Cup match, and these are difficult games, with teams playing for their lives. We reacted very well in the second half, in the second balls and the duels. I have to recognise that Canada were impressive – they played a top match. It was no surprise for us, but in the second half, we were able to profit from the space they left us. That was the key.”
