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France arrived in Philadelphia ‌with the swagger of World Cup heavyweights and left looking like they had spent the afternoon wrestling a cactus, grinding out a narrow victory over Paraguay in sweltering conditions.

Their win was less a showcase of French elegance than a survival exercise, with Kylian Mbappe's penalty finally settling an ill-tempered contest that Paraguay had dragged into their preferred territory of physical confrontation and tactical disruption.

Paraguay offered something France rarely face: tight man-marking, bodies around the wingers and just enough fouls, fussing and provocation to make the favorites twitch.

It almost worked.

Rarely do Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise look so short of rhythm. France ‌are used ‌to facing zonal blocks, rehearsed pressing traps and neat ‌defensive ⁠lines.

Paraguay instead turned ⁠the match into a series of physical personal duels, doubling up wide and denying the French attackers the time and angles they usually bend to their will.

The first half told the story, with France failing to create a clear-cut chance before the break.

Paraguay keeper Orlando Gill was required only to deal with a harmless low effort from Adrien Rabiot, while the excellent Matias Galarza ⁠and Andres Cubas closed central spaces and gave France ‌little comfort.

Miguel Almiron and Julio Enciso also ‌gave Paraguay just enough menace to make France center-backs William Saliba and Dayot ‌Upamecano work, even if that threat often came from scraps rather than ‌structure.

Yet Paraguay's plan carried a fatal flaw that became more glaring as the heat intensified. Their defensive approach came with almost no counter-attacking mechanism beyond long balls into space.

That left Enciso chasing hopeful passes while teammates sank deeper. It was containment ‌without release, resistance without a pressure valve.

Against a side of France's quality, that is a dangerous way to ⁠live. Eventually, their ⁠depth told when substitute Desire Doue forced a penalty and Mbappe converted, sending Gill the wrong way.

It was a brave Paraguay performance. Their resolve, similar to that shown in knocking out Germany on penalties, again made life miserable for a more decorated opponent.

Yet defending almost constantly in extreme heat, especially after an earlier extra-time ordeal, demanded perfection and one mistake was enough to cause their downfall.

For France, this served as a useful alarm bell. They found a way through, but not with authority. Paraguay tested their patience, their temperament and their ability to adapt to a style rarely seen in Europe.

Next come Morocco, comfortable winners over Canada, on Thursday, giving France little time to lick their Philadelphia battle wounds before another examination of their title credentials.

France coach Didier Deschamps hailed his side for keeping their cool against an aggressive Paraguay team in heatwave conditions Saturday as the favorites reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

"It wasn't easy. They used every resource possible. It is maybe not the kind of football that brings people to the stadium, playing with that aggression, exaggerating everything," Deschamps told French broadcaster M6.

Kylian Mbappe decided the game with a penalty in the 70th minute on a sweltering afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, following a foul on Desire Doue.

Mbappe's goal was his seventh so far at the tournament, pulling him level again with Lionel Messi as the joint-leading scorer.

Before that, it had been a frustrating afternoon for Les Bleus, and a sharp contrast to their previous free-scoring matches at the tournament.

France had scored 13 goals in their four World Cup outings prior to this game, but on Saturday they struggled to make clear chances despite totally dominating possession.

Their most creative players -- Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola -- all found the going tough against a niggly Paraguayan team looking to cause another upset after ousting Germany in the last 32.

"We stayed focused on our game. It was difficult, they had lots of men behind the ball and they defend well," added Deschamps.

"Obviously the temperatures made it hard to play with intensity and without that they defended well."

- Heatwave -

The match was played in the late afternoon heat, with temperatures hitting 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) in Philadelphia as the city marked the July 4 weekend and the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Deschamps was also left perplexed that his team collected three yellow cards, while not a single Paraguay player was booked.

"I am not going to criticize the referee, but we finished the game with three bookings and yet there were a lot of things going on," Deschamps said in his post-match press conference, as he suggested he and his team were subjected to verbal aggression too.

"I won't criticize Paraguay. Every team can play however they want, but I could do without the insults.

"The most important thing is that there were no incidents at the end. But all that matters is that we have qualified."

Deschamps said he had to resort to using two of his strongest players to protect captain Mbappe against Paraguayan aggression towards the end of the match.

"We kept our nerve and that is an essential thing. It doesn't win you the game but it is important," he added.

"This experience will help us. After all, we have a lot of players who are playing at their first World Cup," he added.

"I wouldn't say it had been easy for us up to now but now we have had a different type of game."

France move on to a quarter-final tie next Thursday in Foxborough, Massachusetts, against Morocco, who beat Canada 3-0 in the last 16 earlier Saturday.

That game will be a repeat of the 2022 semi-final which France won 2-0, before they went on to lose the final on penalties to Argentina.

"Morocco are one of the best teams. We played them four years ago in Doha and they also got to the Africa Cup of Nations final," Deschamps said.

He will hope his squad recover quickly from the Paraguay clash, and that key midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni comes back after missing Saturday's game with a thigh injury.

"We have a few days now to recuperate. We have some tired players and a few little knocks too."

After Paraguay were knocked out of the World Cup 1-0 by France following a penalty awarded after a VAR review, Albirroja manager Gustavo Alfaro said he could not criticize the decision of Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev.

Tantashev initially waved play on after Desire Doue went down under Diego Gomez’s challenge, but changed his mind after he was summoned to the VAR monitor.

"I saw it at the VAR screen when they were looking ‌at it," Alfaro ‌said. “I was behind the referee, and I cannot be ‌objective.

"The ⁠referee has a ⁠first impression. He says that the player had thrown (himself) trying to generate contact. Then VAR ratifies that it is a penalty, according to them.

"I'm going to look at it more in depth. And when I am looking at the game play, of course, he's in the air, he's very skillful, and he can move in that small space."

Alfaro had insisted before the game that what his squad ⁠achieved was exceptional.

NATIONAL HOLIDAY

His nation will likely agree and ‌Paraguay President Santiago Pena declared Tuesday a ‌national holiday after their shock win on penalties over Germany in the round of 32.

But ‌he conceded the end of the tournament brought a conflict of emotions ‌after coming so close against the twice world champions.

"I leave the World Cup with peace of mind knowing that we played," Alfaro said. "I am sad because I wanted to go further and defeat will never make you happy, of course.”

"I do not like ‌losing at anything. And as I was telling the team in the dressing room, if you want to ⁠be a winner, ⁠the first thing you have to do is learn how to lose.”

With Alfaro’s contract up at the end of the year, the 63-year-old Argentine who has managed the bulk of his career in his home nation's domestic league said he was unsure of his future. But he clearly holds a deep appreciation for his adopted country.

"Today I have open wounds. I'm bleeding. I cannot really reflect because I am overwhelmed right now. I think I need to wait for things to calm down,” Alfaro said.

"Things need to calm down and we'll see what happens. I honestly do not know what I'll do professionally.

"For me, there's no better place than Paraguay. The country has opened up their doors, clubs have opened up their doors, the relationship I have with players, the relationship of gratitude I have with everyone."

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