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Paraguay and France will face each other in the round of 16 of the on Saturday, July 4, at the , in one of the most exciting matchups of the knockout stage.
The Albirroja arrives at the knockout stage as the tournament's major surprise. They qualified as the best third-placed team in Group D with just four points, a record of two goals for and four against, resulting in a goal difference of -2.
Their journey in the group stage was not easy: they lost to the United States 1-4 in their debut, with a hat-trick from Balogun; they defeated Turkey 1-0 with a goal from Matías Galarza in the second minute, playing with ten men after Almirón's expulsion; and they drew 0-0 with Australia in the final match, a result that was enough for them to advance.
The qualification for the round of 16, however, came in the most shocking way of the tournament: Paraguay eliminated Germany in penalties on June 29 at Gillette Stadium in Boston, with a score of 4-3 in the shootout after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes. It was the biggest surprise recorded so far in the 2026 World Cup and the first time Paraguay has reached the round of 16 since South Africa 2010, when they made it to the quarter-finals before falling to Spain.
Among the standout players of the Albirroja in the tournament are Galarza, Julio Enciso (22 years old, Racing Strasbourg), Miguel Almirón, and the captain Gustavo Gómez (Palmeiras), under the guidance of coach Gustavo Alfaro.
France, on the other hand, arrives in a state of grace and as one of the top favorites for the title. The Bleus finished Group I with a perfect record: nine points, 10 goals scored, and a goal difference of +8. They defeated Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0), and Norway (4-1), with the latter featuring a hat-trick from Ousmane Dembélé. In the round of 16, France triumphed 3-0 over Sweden this Wednesday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with a brace from Kylian Mbappé at the 45th and 74th minutes, along with a goal from Bradley Barcola.
With that double against Sweden, Mbappé reached 18 World Cup goals and became the all-time top scorer in World Cup history, surpassing Miroslav Klose's 16 goals. The current world runner-up — finalist in Qatar 2022 — enters the match with a squad valued at 1.53 billion euros and has not dropped a single point in the tournament.
The history between both teams in the World Cups heavily favors the Europeans. The only two previous encounters in the World Cup ended with a French victory: 7-3 in the group stage of 1958 and 1-0 in the round of 16 in 1998, with a golden goal from Laurent Blanc in the 114th minute of extra time. That goal in France 1998 is one of the most remembered in the history of the tournament.
The winner of Saturday's match will advance to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, where an opponent yet to be determined awaits in the bracket.
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