Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
How can your team reach the final and win the World Cup 2026? Click Here so that we know.
WHO: France vs Paraguay
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 – Section 16
Where: Philadelphia Stadium, US
When: Saturday, July 4, 5pm (21:00 GMT)
How to follow: We will have all the construction Al Jazeera Sport from 18:00 GMT before we start our live commentary.
Recommended Articles
list of 4 itemsend of series
France’s Kylian Mbappe has been the best team so far World Cup and they are expected to do well in Paraguay on Saturday and extend their run to the finals.
France look good bets to win a third World Cup, and are expected to beat a Paraguay team ranked 41st in the world.
After winning the trophy in 2018 and losing the final in 2022 on penalties, France hopes to become the third team in World Cup history to reach three consecutive finals, after West Germany and Brazil.
This is still a long way off but their performance so far shows that they will succeed.
Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat of Sweden in the last 32, where Mbappe scored twice and Bradley Barcola once, made it four wins in four games with 13 goals.
But the Paraguayans go to Philadelphia with their confidence in the sky after that win over penalties against Germany – which led to a national holiday being declared at home.
What happened in France’s last 32 games?
Mbappe scored twice, and Michael Olise was in impressive form for France beat Sweden 3-0.
The Real Madrid striker finished off a superb finish to break the deadlock just before half-time. Olise set up Paris Saint-Germain’s winner Barcola for the second goal in the 53rd minute, then provided a delightful pass for Mbappe to complete the decisive victory.
Mbappe’s strike saw him move level with Lionel Messi on six goals in the Golden Boot race at this World Cup.
The France captain now has 18 World Cup goals, just one behind Messi’s record total of 19, a sign that Mbappe, 27, will continue his pursuit.
What happened in Paraguay’s last 32 matches?
The Germans trailed 1-0 at the break through Julio Enciso’s 42nd minute header from Matias Galarza’s cross on Monday.
It looked good for the four-time winners in the first half, but they equalized in the second half, with Kai Havertz scoring eight minutes after the restart with a glancing header from Florian Wirtz’s cross from the corner.
Germany then had Jonathan Tah’s goal for a corner disallowed after a VAR review for a challenge on the Paraguayan keeper, and without another goal, the game saw extra time.
Havertz, who helped Arsenal end a 22-year wait to win the English Premier League title this season, missed the opening match. The striker’s team would miss all three kicks, while Paraguay, who missed two, eventually won 4-3.
Deschamps releases the handbrake
France enjoyed great success during Didier Deschamps’ 14-year tenure, but for a long time there was a feeling that the talented coach did not allow his team to increase their attacking potential.
Now in his last race before going down, that seems to have changed. Mbappe, Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and the brilliant Michael Olise seem unstoppable.
“There is a very good relationship between the attacking players. They speak the same language of football,” said Deschamps after the Sweden game.
But the French coach said his team will not take Paraguay lightly.
“They are not here by accident. Germany is a top side, and they have South American DNA, which means they stick,” said Deschamps.
“And they have good players. You don’t just get into the last 16 of the World Cup like this by luck.”
‘We have our powers too’
Another famous Paraguayan player in France is Julio Enciso of Strasbourg, who scored against Germany.
He realizes that few people would expect Paraguay to win as they aim to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the second time.
“We also have our strengths, and with our style of play, we will try to make things difficult for every opponent,” said Enciso.
Extreme heat warnings
One challenge for both teams is the weather, with temperatures in Philadelphia expected to reach 37 degrees Celsius (98 Fahrenheit) on Saturday.
The Games will be held in the city where America’s Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago, but the festivities are at risk of being affected by hurricanes.
France have already played in Philadelphia in this World Cup, and their 3-0 win over Iraq during the group stage was interrupted for two hours by rain and thunder.
Dealing with these situations can be difficult, and both parties will want to avoid the prospect of time-wasting and penalties.
The final international meeting at the World Cup went into extra time and became one of the most important moments in the modern history of the French national team.
On their way to winning the trophy for the first time on home soil in 1998, Les Bleus – with Deschamps as captain – beat Paraguay 1-0.
France vs Paraguay: Kick-off time, television
- France: Bein Sports 1 (11pm, Central European Time)
- United Kingdom: BBC, ITV (10pm, British Summer Time)
- United States: FOX, Telemundo (5pm, Eastern Daylight Time)
To view the TV schedule for your country, visit the FIFA TV schedule Here.
France vs Paraguay prediction
The Opta supercomputer gives France a 78.8% chance of winning in regulation time, while Paraguay is at 7.6%.
The model estimates a 13.7 percent chance that the game will go to overtime.
Head to head
The two countries met five times, France won three matches and two ended in draws.
France beat Paraguay 5-0 in their most recent match – a friendly in 2017 – with Olivier Giroud scoring a hat-trick.
- June 02, 2017: France 5-0 Paraguay (friendly)
- June 01, 2014: France 1-1 Paraguay (friendly)
- May 31, 2008: France 0-0 Paraguay (friendly)
- June 28, 1998: France 1-0 Paraguay (World Cup Last 16)
- June 8, 1958: France 7-3 Paraguay (World Cup Group)
Social media
Neither party has any suspensions or claims of injury.
France predicted starting XI:
(4-2-3-1): Maignan (goalkeeper); Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Tchouamen, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Barcola; Bape
Paraguay predicted starting XI:
( 4-3-3 ): Gill (goaler); Caceres, G Gomez, Canale, Alonso; Galarza, Cubas, D Gomez; Almiron, Avalos, Enciso
