PHILADELPHIA (United States) — France captain Kylian Mbappe said his side were happy to do whatever it takes to advance in the World Cup after they battled through a bad-tempered last-16 tie with Paraguay to win 1-0.
Mbappe scored the winner from the spot in the 70th minute to bring his tally for the tournament to seven and his overall tally in the World Cup to 19 goals, but he was continually goaded by the Paraguayan defenders towards the end of the game in sweltering Philadelphia.
“We knew what sort of match we were in for, but I think today went really well,” Mbappe said according to AFP.
“They thought we’d turn up in tuxedos, that we’d just come to pull off some spectacular moves,” Mbappe added.
“But we know how to play the dirty game too. And we did that today; we won, and even in that respect we were better than them.”
The Real Madrid forward added: “The way we played today showed that we’re not just a team that knows how to play attacking football.
“If we have to get our hands dirty, we’ll get our hands dirty. Sorry for the expression, but we’ve no problem with that.”
The meeting with Paraguay was a scrappy affair that somehow only produced three yellow cards from Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev – all for France.
As Mbappe prepared to take his penalty, both sets of players squared off, with Paraguay also attempting to dig up the spot ahead of the kick.
“That’s their football, that’s their way of playing,” the 27-year-old said.
“Everyone plays to their strengths; there’s no right or wrong way to play football. There’s only one way, and that’s to win.
“They tried to get the better of us that way, but we got the better of them in that too. Now we’re moving on to the next stage.”
France will meet Morocco in the quarter-finals next Thursday in Boston.
“We know they’re a very good team. And we’re really looking forward to playing against them,” Mbappe said of the last-eight clash, which will be a repeat of the 2022 semifinal won 2-0 by France.
“We’ll give it our all to keep moving forward.”
