France, July 5 -- On Saturday at the Philadelphia Stadium, France skipper Kylian Mbappe scored in the 70th minute from the penalty spot against Paraguay to send France into the quarter-final.

The kick was awarded after Diego Gomez felled Desire Doue in the penalty area.

"We knew what kind of match it was going to be," Mbappe said after the game in which he scored his seventh goal at the 2026 tournament to draw level with the Argentina skipper Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts. 'Ready for ugly football'

"We can also get our hands dirty, we know how to do it. We know how to play ugly football.

"Guess they were thinking we were going to show up in tuxedos, but we were ready."

France coach Didier Deschamps said he feared Para...