France fights on: "We know how to play hard"

France lived up to its role as favorites in the World Cup round of 16 against Paraguay.

In a fiercely contested match with many controversial decisions, the French ultimately prevailed narrowly by a score of 1-0 (to the match report>>>).

The "Equipe Tricolor" showed itself to be the clearly dominant team throughout the entire match, but they repeatedly had problems, especially with the very hard playing style of the South Americans.

"Paraguay didn't want to play football"

The Germany-conquerors primarily took advantage of the referee's lenient approach. They repeatedly committed fouls and unsportsmanlike acts. Ultimately, however, Paraguay only received a single yellow card.

"I didn't even know Paraguay could commit 30 fouls without getting a yellow card," said substitute Rayan Cherki after the match.

Several players could have been sent off for violent conduct.

Kylian Mbappe, who scored the only goal from a penalty in the 70th minute, said after the match: "Paraguay didn't want to play football, but we showed them how it's done. We won and we were better."

"If we have to get our hands dirty..."

Although the French were constantly provoked, Didier Deschamps' team did not succumb to the provocations of the South Americans.

France also met force with force, but managed not to overstep the mark.

"If we have to get our hands dirty, we will. They thought we'd show up for the game in tuxedos, but we also know how to play hard football," said Mbappe.

France shows new face

Ultimately, the French also emerged victorious in their fifth World Cup match. While they didn't deliver a gala performance like in previous games, they proved that they can stand their ground in tough matches too.

"We showed that we're not just a team that can play attacking football," said Mbappe.

On Thursday, France will continue their journey in the quarter-finals against Morocco.