Kylian Mbappe goes scorched earth on Paraguay after ‘dirty’ World Cup match

Paraguay was relentlessly physical against France in their Round-of-16 match at the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup on Saturday, July 4.

France didn’t take the bait, outside of one first-half shoving match, though the officiating painted a different picture. French players earned three yellow cards, while Paraguay somehow avoided any cards.

Paraguay didn’t get away with it entirely, however. Gustavo Gomez’s challenge on Désiré Doué, prompted a VAR review, awarding a penalty kick to France. Les Bleus captain Kylian Mbappe buried his penalty — his seventh goal of this World Cup — to put France up 1-0 in the 70th minute, which proved to secure France’s victory.

After his play did the talking on the pitch, Mbappe let Paraguay know exactly how he felt about their tactics.

“We knew what kind of game we were going to get, but we showed that we are not just a team that can play attacking football,” Mbappe said, per ESPN. “If we have to ‘get our hands dirty,’ we will get our hands dirty. We have no issue with that.”

According to Men in Blazers, Mbappe also said, “If they tell us to [expletive] off, we will also tell them to [expletive] off.”

France midfielder Rayan Cherki echoed Mbappe during his time in the mixed zone, saying, “Today, we reminded everyone that the French team is not just about football, it’s about whoever wants to fight us, this is what you should be prepared for.”

Cherki disclosed that Les Bleus were “prepared” for Paraguay’s physicality because the message within the team had been that “Paraguay’s main quality is to wage war, to try to get opposing players off their game,” and they wanted to prove that they can play physically, too.

France’s next challenge will be a date with Morocco in the quarterfinal on Thursday, July 9. France and Morocco met in the semifinal at the 2022 World Cup. France beat Morocco before losing to Argentina in the final. Morocco has an entirely different playing style than Paraguay, but the match figures to be just as intense and fueled by revenge.