Pakistan, July 4 -- Kylian Mbappe's France have been the outstanding team so far at this World Cup and will be expected to get the better of Paraguay on Saturday and extend their run to the quarter-finals.

Perhaps the only thing that can stop Mbappe and Les Bleus is the threat of extreme heat and possibly storms in Philadelphia. It is a last-16 tie with a clear favourite, but a match-up with historic significance on the July 4 weekend in the birthplace of American independence.

After winning the trophy in 2018 and losing the 2022 final on penalties, France are hoping to become only the third team in World Cup history to reach three consecutive finals, after West Germany and Brazil.

That remains a long way off but their performances so ...