from our special correspondent in Philadelphia – After the difficult victory against Paraguay in a very tense round of 16 (1-0), the players of the France team said that they expected this kind of match: very closed, against a team which provokes and commits a lot of mistakes. Which surely allowed them to keep calm, especially since the refereeing didn't really help them.

Published on: 05/07/2026 - 03:45 Modified on: 05/07/2026 - 03:46

To display this YouTube content, it is necessary to authorize audience measurement and advertising cookies.

An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the loading of the video player. To be able to watch this content, you must disable or uninstall it.

Sometimes, only victory is beautiful. This is what the players of the France team seemed to be saying after the stifling match against Paraguay, Saturday July 4, in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. Despite all the mistakes committed by the Albirroja, which the referee almost never sanctioned, the Blues were able to remain focused and settle for a penalty goal from Kylian Mbappé (1-0). Enough to once again reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Read alsoWorld Cup 2026: France masters a rough Paraguay and joins Morocco in the quarterfinals

Warned with a yellow, like two other tricolors, while no Paraguayan received a card, Bradley Barcola did not hide his astonishment in front of the journalists:

“I had never played a match like that, with so many blows, treacherous blows, pushes in the back. It was complicated, but we won (...) All the blows that I took, I should not have responded, I should not get into that game.”

Mental strength also highlighted by William Saliba:

"We knew what to expect. They didn't give us anything, they came at us and tried to take us out of our match. We stayed focused (...) There was some nervousness, but we showed that we weren't going to give up." He concedes, however, that "the referee could have given a few yellow cards, that could have calmed them down a little", said Saliba.

As for Ryan Cherki, who entered at the end of the match, he confirms the team's state of mind, but prefers to be ironic about the refereeing:

“We were ready for that and we wanted to remind everyone that we too know how to fight (...) I don’t see why we should be nervous when we know our qualities.” "On the refereeing, I have nothing to say, you saw for yourself: how many fouls there were (for Paraguay)? 30, 40? And zero yellow cards. And that doesn't matter." “We are in the quarter-finals”

Keywords associated with the article

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.