Pennsylvania, July 5 -- France captain Kylian Mbappe said his side proved they are capable of winning ugly as well as playing attractive football after Les Bleus ground out a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paraguay to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-finals.

Speaking to the host broadcasters after the match, Mbappe said, "I think we knew what kind of match we were going to have, but I think today it's very good. The match we had, how we played it. We showed that we weren't just a team that knew how to play offensive football. If we have to get our hands dirty ('put our hands in the sh*t), we're going to get our hands dirty, sorry for the expression. We don't have a problem with that."

He added, "They thought we were going to come pla...