⏪ France & Morocco set for quarter-final clash after R16 wins | OneFootball

TODAY'S ROUND OF 16 FIXTURES

One gets the feeling that this could be France's summer.

Mbappé keeping pace with Messi across two World Cup goalscoring races, the insane depth of quality Les Bleus can summon, and their general level of play make it seem almost inevitable.

However, the swansong of Didier Deschamps cannot be overlooked after he made history against Paraguay.

A summation of proceedings in Philadelphia, thanks to The Athletic.

How the bracket has begun to take shape after today's pair of R16 fixtures.

FULL TIME: PARAGUAY 0-1 FRANCE

Les Bleus advance after a more-than-deserved 1-0 win against Paraguay and a date with Morocco in the quarterfinals in Boston.

CHANCES!

A fantastic quick-reaction double save from Gill denies Doué a late second goal for France to give them a deserved cushion on the night.

We're into the fifth of an awarded ten minutes of added time.

Messi has the overall goals record at the World Cup, but Mbappé owns the knockout stages.

He's now level on seven goals this summer with the Argentine icon.

GOAL!! PARAGUAY 0-1 FRANCE (PEN)

Mbappé's 19th World Cup goal (in 19 matches) gives Les Bleus a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute, with the Real Madrid superstar calmly slotting past Gill from the spot.

16 of his now-19 goals on the world's biggest stage have come after the halftime interval.

Does he have another in him before full time?!

PENALTY!

France have a golden chance to break the deadlock against a defiant Paraguay thanks to Doué's dancing run into the box.

VAR CHECK!

Desiré Doué stays down on the playing surface as the officials look to give France a possible penalty.

CHANCE!

Gill comes up big with a finger-tip save to deny Manu Koné from a long-range hit to break the deadlock.

CHANCE!

France break instantly after Maignan collects a Paraguay corner, with the Les Bleus goalkeeper hitting Mbappé with a pinpoint-driven ball to set the captain away behind the lines.

A last-gap challenge by veteran centre-back Gustavo Velázquez stripped Mbappé of the chance to get off a clean strike at goal.

We're back as the second half gets underway.

More on Paraguay's stubbornness at the back this evening.

Opta to the rescue with further insights into what was a very stale first half.

Paraguay, however, is showing the world exactly how you set up against France.

HALFTIME

Paraguay are beginning to ramp up the physicality, with Mbappé and Mike Maignan the recent recipients of those efforts.

CHANCE!

Ousmane Dembélé sees his effort deflected wide of Gill's far post after the PSG man received from Mbappé before cutting in from the right-side channel.

Once again, France make nothing of the resulting corner.

A Michael Olise free-kick was poorly dealt with by Paraguay, who eventually clear their lines to gift France another corner.

Jules Koundé ultimately found himself on the end of a chance on the volley from outside of the box in the wake of the outswinging ball, but his shot bounced straight at Orlando Gill, who claimed comfortably.

Play resumes, and perhaps players and fans are actually begging for a delay in play due to thunderstorms that may roll in.

We've hit the first, and badly needed, hydration break this evening in the wake of a third French corner as the first-half ball dominance continues, though they've managed just one shot.

Bradley Barcola is the first to enter Ilgiz Tantashev's book.

A second corner for France is wasted with a short pass that is immediately dealt with.

Paraguay appears to be comfortable here despite having so little of the ball.

It's shaping up to be a Paraguay outfit hoping to withstand a 90-minute siege against France.

Are La Albirroja asking for trouble?

Let us know in the comments below!

We've eclipsed the 10-minute mark, and it's hardly gone against expectations thus far.

The corner comes to nothing, but Les Bleus are back in possession.

France earns their first corner of the evening after a lovely passage of play by Kylian Mbappé opened space for a cross by Lucas Digne.

KICK-OFF

We're underway in Philadelphia despite the weather concerns!

Will France [expectedly] march on, or will Paraguay cause a massive upset?

For those who need their data fix across this match, this may be of interest!

Pre-match stat to watch out for:

France boasts a 7-1 record in Round of 16 clashes. Their only loss? Back in the 1934 edition of the World Cup against Austria.

Since then, wins against Belgium (1938), Italy (1986), Paraguay (1998), Spain (2006), Nigeria (2014), Argentina (2018), and Poland (2022) have highlighted their ability to push deep into tournaments.

(Via GFFN)

Paraguay and France walk out onto the pitch in Philadelphia.

We'll have anthems, and then we're underway in sweltering conditions.

Now added to the heat conditions, a severe thunderstorm watch is in place.

As we're now less than 30 minutes away from kick-off in Philadelphia, here's a refresher on the starting XIs for the upcoming Round of 16 clash...

More on the Paraguay-France build-up.

Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappé have, unsurprisingly, been two of the most involved players this summer.

Coming up against a Paraguay side that, at their best, sit deep to defend, will they be able to frustrate France's frontline enough this evening, or is the result a foregone conclusion?

In the run-up to Paraguay's clash with tournament heavyweight France in Philadelphia, weather concerns persist.

Here's more on what that means across a fixture that is going to be one of the hottest on record at a World Cup.

With so many fantastic storylines from African nations this summer, this stat from Opta offers further proof of the steady growth coming from the likes of Morocco, Senegal, and many others.

Morocco's surge across international football continues, and it's appearances like this from Noussair Mazraoui that are fanning the flames.

Take a bow, Morocco!

A campaign to be proud of for Canada...

FT: Canada 0-3 Morocco

GOAL! IT'S THREE!

Canada caught out once again, this time Soufiane Rahimi finds the net.

Canada 0-3 Morocco

According to StatsFoot, Ounahi becomes the 4th African player to score a brace in the knockout stage of the World Cup.

Into added time...

Eight additional minutes to be played.

Another assist for Brahim Díaz.

GOAL! MOROCCO!

Canada are caught out on the counter attack. Azzedine Ounahi scores his second of the game.

Canada 0-2 Morocco

CHANCE!

Canada win a free-kick on the edge of the box. David takes but he lifts it over the bar.

Canada 0-1 Morocco

Back underway!

Will there be any late twists?

Pause in play...

A second hydration break.

Penalty shout!

Tajon Buchanan is bundled over and claims a penalty for Canada. The flag is raised for offside. VAR checks but nothing is given and play continues.

Canada 0-1 Morocco

Fantastic set-piece routine from Morocco!

GOAL! MOROCCO LEAD!

Less than five minutes into the second half, Morocco score. Capitalising on a set piece, a free-kick out wide is passed to the edge of the box and Azzedine Ounahi drills it into the bottom corner.

Canada 0-1 Morocco

KICK OFF!

Second half underway.

HT: Canada 0-0 Morocco

Into added time...

Six additional minutes to be played at the end of the first half.

Canada 0-0 Morocco

A bit of a scuffle...

Achraf Hakimi and Richie Laryea both booked as a result.

Canada 0-0 Morocco

Back underway!

Will we see a goal before half-time?

A glimpse of the game so far

Pause in play

First hydration break of the game!

Canada 0-0 Morocco

Early change...

Morocco's star man Ismael Saibari makes way due to injury. He's replaced by Soufiane Rahimi. A big blow.

Canada 0-0 Morocco

Canada on top...

All of the early openings have gone the co-host's way. They are leaving a little bit of space in behind, however, with Morocco will certainly look to exploit.

Canada 0-0 Morocco

SAVE!

Tani Oluwaseyi turns in the box and gets a shot away. He should open the scoring for Canada but once again, Bounou does well to make the save. Best chance of the game so far!

Canada 0-0 Morocco

First opportunity for Canada...

Jonathan David gets a shot away from a tight angle but Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was there to make the stop and palm it out for a corner.

Canada 0-0 Morocco

KICK OFF!

The first Round of 16 match is underway.

Here we go...

The team are out and kick off is approaching!

Can Morocco's teenage talent make his mark tonight?

Team news ahead of the early game...

Canada XI: Crepeau, Johnston, Fougerolles, Bombito, Laryea, Sigur, Eustaquio, Ahmed, Buchanan, Oluwaseyi, Jonathan David

Morocco XI: Bounou, Hakimi, Halhal, Diop, Mazraoui, El Aynaoui, Bouaddi, El Khannouss, Ounahi, Diaz, Saibari

Good evening!

Welcome to today's World Cup coverage as the Round of 16 gets underway.

Co hosts Canada kick things off in the 6pm kick-off against Morocco, before Paraguay face a difficult dest against France at 10pm.

Stay tuned!