France Outlasts Stubborn Paraguay to Advance
- Philip Fox
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
Credit Opta Analyst
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
On the day of the United States' Independence Day, one of the US's earliest allies took center stage in the second match of the round of 16. France took on Paraguay in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Paraguay reached the round of 16 by defeating Germany in penalty kicks after 120 minutes of pure World Cup chaos. France reached the round of 16 by dismantling Sweden 3- 0.
France started a lineup similar to their round-of-32 lineup, with one change in the defensive midfield. France started in a 4-2-3-1 formation under French manager Didier Deschamps. Mike Maignan started in goal. The defensive four had Jules Koundé at right back, Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba as the center-back duo, and Lucas Digne at left back. The French defensive midfielders were Kouadio Koné and Adrien Rabiot. In the attacking midfield, Ousmane Dembélé started on the right wing, Michael Olise in attacking midfield, and Bradley Barcola on the left wing. Sitting at the top in the striker position was captain Kylian Mbappé.
Paraguay used a 5-4-1 formation under manager Gustavo Alfaro. Starting at goalkeeper was Orlando Gill. The defending five were Juan José Cáceres at right wing-back, Gustavo Velázquez, Gustavo Gómez ©, and Omar Alderete as a center back trio, and Júnior Alonso at left wing-back. The starting midfielders were Miguel Almirón at right mid, Diego Gómez and Andrés Cubas at center mid, and Matías Galarza at left mid. Julio Enciso started as the lone striker.
This game slowly came down to an unstoppable force versus an immovable object: Paraguay set up with five defenders and four midfielders to try to contain the French high-octane attacking presence. This worked for the entirety of the first half, with France taking only five shots, none on target. Wow! They had 80% possession of the ball. On the other hand, Paraguay took only two shots—none on target.
The goal for Paraguay was to prevent France from scoring at all costs. Of the five shots France took, two were off target, and three were blocked by the Paraguayan defense, resulting in just 1.3 expected goals for the French.
The second half was more of the same, with France holding 71% possession and taking 10 shots, five on target. What was different from the first half was that only one shot was blocked. Four shots were off target; five were on target.
It took 70 minutes before France finally got a call from a very controversial referee who could be argued to have let a lot of rough play go against Paraguay. In the 65th minute, Doue did an amazing job getting past several Paraguay defenders before he finally got into the penalty box. He looked to take a shot but was tackled to the ground by Gomez. After a lengthy VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot, giving France a shot at the lead.
In the 70th minute, Captain Mbappé, as chill as ever, took the shot and sent it to the bottom right-hand corner, giving France the lead.
France finished the game with 76% possession and took 15 shots. Five of them were on target, while Paraguay took five shots total in the entire game, zero on target. The plan to take France all the way to the end did not work out for Paraguay as it did for Germany, but you must say they had a really good run before bowing out in the round of 16. France move on to the quarterfinals against a very strong Moroccan side that dismantled Canada 3- 0.
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