France football team superstar Kylian Mbappe snubbed a handshake from Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill after their heated FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash on Sunday.
Mbappe scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot as France registered a 1-0 win to reach the quarterfinals. The match was filled with tough tackles from Paraguay players and while Gill offered a handshake after the game, Mbappe ignored it and kept celebrating. “I tried to shake his hand, but since he didn’t pay me any attention, I lost my temper,” Gill said. “But anyway, that was all I did; I calmed down afterward.”
Coming to the game, Mbappe coolly stroked in a 70th-minute spot-kick to settle a tense duel with the tough-tackling Paraguayans in furnace-like conditions at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
The goal was Mbappe’s seventh of the Lionel Messi, putting him alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot.
Paraguay, who pulled off a massive upset in the last 32 by ousting four-time champions Germany on penalties, frustrated France for long periods with an ultra-disciplined defensive effort.
But the introduction of substitute Desire Doue for left winger Bradley Barcola in the 61st minute led to the breakthrough.
Paris Saint-Germain player Doue cut in menacingly from the left and jinked past several Paraguayan players before being upended by DiegoGomez in the area.
There was a brief delay after referee Ilgiz Tantashev waved play on, but when the incident was sent to VAR for review, the Uzbek official swiftly pointed to the spot.
Mbappe stepped up and duly converted with aplomb to settle a match that had been played in temperatures of around 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) as a heatwave roasted the northeastern United States as it celebrated the July 4 holiday.
France will now face Morocco in the quarter-finals in Foxborough, outside Boston on Thursday — a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final won by Les Bleus.