'Parking the bus' nearly works for Paraguay, but France proves its prowess

PHILADELPHIA, After seeing what Paraguay did to Germany just a few days earlier at Gillette Stadium, France knew what it could expect in its round of 16 matchup.

Les Bleus weathered the test of Paraguay’s defense, and the near-100-degree Fahrenheit heat, on Saturday, July 4 with a 1-0 win over La Albirroja at Lincoln Financial Field to move one step closer to finishing off their redemption tour.

"It could have gone another way," France coach Didier Deschamps said. "If we did respond to provocation, it could have been bad. Germany did respond and I said, 'Please stay focused, focus on what we are able to do.'"

France’s attack had been humming coming into the match, but Paraguay’s compact, "parking the bus" formation and defensive approach threw that off gear. Les Bleus arrived on Saturday having outscored their previous four opponents 13, 2, while averaging at least three goals in every one of those outings.

Kylian Mbappe scored the game’s lone goal in the 70th minute on a penalty kick after Desire Doué was taken down by Diego Gómez in the box. He now sits at 19 career World Cup goals, one shy of tying Lionel Messi for the tournament's all-time scoring record.

Les Bleus expected this challenge, but preparation didn’t make execution any easier. Running the attack through Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Mbappe became a grind with Paraguay compacting the box on top of bringing some fiery physicality to the match.

"Today wasn't easy. We knew what to expect. That it wouldn't be easy, that they wouldn't give us much space. They were a very compact team that defends very well and had beaten a good German team," France defender William Saliba said. "They didn’t give us anything. They came at us hard. They tried to throw us off our game, but we stayed focused. We didn’t concede a goal, and we were able to close out the match."

France looked sharper after halftime, finding pockets of space and generating the kind of chances that had been missing earlier. Les Bleus completed 515 passes in the match compared to Paraguay's 103.

Deschamps echoed that assessment in his post‑match comments, noting that Les Bleus produced more "convincing" passes in the second half than in the first, finally breaking through some of Paraguay’s defensive rigidity.

"Playing in the low block requires less effort and more intensity. With today's heat, and this is no excuse, we should have played quicker, especially in transitions," Deschamps said. "... This is another experience for us. For a lot of our players, they are experiencing their first World Cup. It wasn't easy. Some games were easier than this one. We knew that for this game it would be complicated. ... I'm convinced this will help (us)."

By weathering everything that was thrown to them, France midfielder Rayan Cherki said Les Bleus showed that they have more than just technical and tactical skills to show on the pitch.

France now advances to the quarterfinals for the fourth time under Deschamps. Les Bleus will take on Morocco at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 9 at Gillette Stadium.

“We knew that today, we might not be able to showcase our technical and tactical skills as much, because their main strength is fighting hard,” France midfielder Rayan Cherki said. “Today, we reminded everyone that the French national team isn’t just about soccer, it’s about who’s willing to fight. That’s what you should expect.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Parking the bus' nearly works for Paraguay, but France proves its prowess