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Speak with the ball—Mbappé responds fiercely: If they want to play dirty, we can too!

In the Round of 16 of the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, France defeated Paraguay 1-0 thanks to Mbappé's goal. The on-field clashes between the two teams also became one of the focal points of the match.

Mbappé was hit by a "karate chop" in the first half, and was stomped on in retaliation in the second half. Koundé also suffered an intentional elbow during the match, but all these actions by Paraguayan players escaped the referee Tantashov's punishment. Paraguay made 29 fouls in the entire match, but was only penalized for 13, and received zero yellow cards during the game. In contrast, three French players were shown yellow cards.

After the final whistle, Paraguayan goalkeeper Gil threw the ball at Mbappé's back, but Mbappé showed no reaction. In a post-match interview, Gil said he threw the ball out of impulse because his handshake of congratulations to Mbappé was ignored. Due to Gil's outstanding performance in the match—especially his two consecutive saves against Mbappé's shot in stoppage time—he was named Man of the Match.

Additionally, after the match, the Paraguayan team lost emotional control, with assistant coaches and players surrounding the referee.

When asked about Paraguay's repeated fouls, Mbappé said in the post-match interview: "We knew what kind of game we were facing today, and the team handled it very well. We proved that we can not only play attacking football, but if they want to get 'dirty,' we can get 'dirty' too. They thought we were playing in suits, passing the ball around nicely, but we know how to play 'dirty' football. We did it today, and even in this kind of match, we did better than our opponents."

French legend Henry said: "Paraguay knew they were at a disadvantage, but they didn't give up. They kept trying to win every duel. Of course, the referee did raise some doubts—some calls were indeed questionable—and I can understand France's frustration. I would say that, in the end, football itself won. The French players stayed calm throughout, they won the match, and they deserved the victory."

France's opponent in the quarterfinals will be Morocco. In the last World Cup, the two teams met in the semifinals, with France advancing 2-0.