Mbappe's Penalty Kick Secures France's Spot in Quarterfinals After Win Over Paraguay

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France has advanced to the quarterfinals of the North and Central America World Cup after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the Round of 16. Star striker Kylian Mbappe scored the winning goal, moving into a tie for the lead in the tournament's scoring race and closing the gap on Lionel Messi in total career World Cup goals to just one.

Reporter Ha Seong-nyong has the story.

[Reporter]

France dominated Paraguay, which had reached the Round of 16 after defeating Germany, throughout the first half but failed to create any significant scoring opportunities. The match grew heated, with players from both sides engaging in physical altercations due to several unsportsmanlike fouls committed by Paraguay.

After ending the first half scoreless, France brought on forward Doue in the 16th minute of the second half, and the substitution proved effective.

Just four minutes after entering the pitch, Doue was tripped by a defender while making a breakthrough. Following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, France was awarded a penalty kick.

In the 25th minute of the second half, Mbappe stepped up as the kicker and calmly converted the penalty to score the opening and decisive goal.

With his 7th goal of the tournament, Mbappe is now tied with Messi for the top spot in scoring, keeping his momentum for a second consecutive Golden Boot. He also reached 19 career World Cup goals, trailing the all-time leader, Messi, by just one.

Even after the goal, Paraguay continued to display unsportsmanlike behavior, including kicking and striking French players. Mbappe sought a second goal, but his consecutive left-footed shots in second-half stoppage time were blocked by the goalkeeper, preventing him from adding to the score.

With the 1-0 win, France advanced to the quarterfinals, continuing its quest for a title for the first time in 8 years.

Meanwhile, Morocco, which caused a sensation by reaching the semifinals in the last tournament, defeated host nation Canada 3-0 to become the first African team to reach the quarterfinals in two consecutive tournaments.

Ounahi scored two goals, and Rahimi added a clincher just before the final whistle to lead the team to a decisive victory.

Morocco will face France in the quarterfinals on July 10, a rematch of the semifinal match from four years ago where France handed Morocco a defeat.

(Video Editing: Hwang Ji-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.