Playing disruptor: Mystery of Paraguay’s World Cup defeat to France without getting booked

The Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, and the MH370 plane that disappeared without a trace. These are some of mankind’s greatest mysteries.

On Saturday, the FIFA World Cup 2026 made a worthy contribution to this list — the mystery of how Paraguay ended its Round of 16 defeat to France without being shown a yellow card.

The South American side tried everything it could to get booked. There were arms swung at French faces, elbows thrust into French throats and studs stamped on French shins and boots.

Paraguay’s efforts weren’t limited to physical outbursts. There were also blatant play-acting seeking fouls and constant verbal efforts to rile up the French players. The icing on the cake came from defender Gustavo Velázquez, who attempted to not-so-discreetly scuff up the penalty spot to put off Kylian Mbappe right before the forward fired in the match-winning goal.

Despite all this, the on-field referee Ilgiz Tantashev refused to caution the Paraguayans, holding onto his cards like prized possessions.

Consumed by its intent to play the disruptor, Paraguay displayed no willingness to hold onto the ball. Sitting deep in its territory with a 5-4-1 low block, the side’s forays into the opposition half were largely limited to hopeful long balls and isolated dribbles from forward Julia Enciso.

Paraguay’s possession was clocked at just 24.1%, while its pass completion rate was an abysmal 54.1% – the second-lowest by a team in a World Cup game since 1966. Not surprisingly, the side managed just five shots, with only one on target.

What Paraguay succeeded in doing was dragging the game down to a scrapfest and frustrating France. With no space to operate in and around the attacking third, the two-time World Champion was forced to fire in speculative crosses and attempt shots from distance.

It didn’t take too long for the French exasperation to spill out. Mbappe was seen engaging in multiple duels – verbal and non-verbal – with Paraguayan players. The usually unflappable Michael Olise was baited into a scuffle, which ended with the French attacker being shown a yellow card.

It was almost as if the Philadelphia heat – at kick-off, the mercury stood at 38.3 Celsius – had tampered with the player’s logic. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

It was almost as if the Philadelphia heat – at kick-off, the mercury stood at 38.3 Celsius – had tampered with the player’s logic.

But France – which had earlier taken the tournament by storm with its expansive, eye-catching football – showed its willingness to get its hands dirty.

France responded to Paraguay’s challenge with its own tough tackles, with Bradley Barcola and Manu Koné getting booked for two of them. There were multiple multi-player tussles between the two sides which unsettled the game’s rhythm. In the end, France held onto a slender win, as it booked a quarterfinal clash against Morocco.

“We know how to play ugly football,” said Mbappe in a post-match interview.

“They [Paraguay] thought we’d show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even at that game, we were better than them,” he added.

Mbappe’s emotions were on ample display at the full-time whistle. The talismanic forward walked right past a handshake offer from Paraguayan keeper Orlando Gill to celebrate joyously, whipping up the fervour among the French supporters in the stadium.

To his credit, Mbappe refused to belittle Paraguay’s approach.

“That’s their style of football – there’s no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried to beat us that way, but we won,” said Mbappe.

Paraguay stuck to its own method, the same one which had garnered it a shock win over Germany in the Round of 32. Ultimately, the Paraguayan way failed as France demonstrated its willingness to get its hands dirty.

Published on Jul 05, 2026

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