PHILADELPHIA, July 6 -- For seventy minutes, Orlando Gill was winning. Paraguay's goalkeeper had already eliminated Germany on penalties in the previous round, and for more than an hour in triple-digit heat he looked capable of doing something rarer still: shutting out France in a World Cup knockout match with a back line that spent most of the night defending in numbers rather than attacking in any.

Then, in the 70th minute, Desire Doue went down in the box under a challenge from Diego Gomez. The referee waved play on. A VAR review reversed him. Kylian Mbappe stepped up and buried the penalty, and ESPN reported France had the only goal of a 1-0 win that was far closer than the scoreline or France's 76 percent possession suggested it sho...