Playing disruptor: mystery of Paraguay’s World Cup defeat to France without receiving a yellow card

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

On Saturday, the 2026 FIFA World Cup made a worthy contribution to this list – the mystery of how Paraguay ended their round of 16 defeat to France without receiving a yellow card.

The South American side did everything they could to get booked. Arms were waved at French faces, elbows were thrust into French throats, and studs were stamped on French shins and boots.

Paraguay’s efforts were not limited to physical outbursts. There were also blatant plays looking for mistakes and constant verbal attempts to incite the French players. The icing on the cake came from defender Gustavo Velázquez, who not-so-discreetly attempted to clear the penalty spot to deter Kylian Mbappé just before the striker fired home the winning goal.

Despite all this, on-field referee Ilgiz Tantashev refused to warn the Paraguayans and kept his cards as a prized possession.

Consumed by his intention to play the disruptor, Paraguay showed no willingness to hold the ball. Deep in his territory with a 5-4-1 low block, the side’s forays into the opponent’s half were largely limited to hopeful long balls and isolated dribbles from striker Julia Enciso.

Paraguay’s possession was clocked at just 24.1%, while their pass completion rate was an abysmal 54.1% – the second lowest for a team in a World Cup match since 1966. Unsurprisingly, the side managed just five shots, of which only one was on target.

What Paraguay succeeded in was taking the game to a nasty and frustrating France. With no space to operate in and around the attacking third, the two-time world champion was forced to make speculative crosses and attempt shots from distance.

It did not take long for French annoyance to break out. Mbappé was involved in several duels – verbal and non-verbal – with Paraguayan players. The usually unflappable Michael Olise was involved in a scuffle, which ended in a yellow card for the French attacker.

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

But France – who had previously taken the tournament by storm with their expansive, high-profile football – showed their willingness to get their hands dirty.

France responded to Paraguay’s challenge with some tough tackles of their own, with Bradley Barcola and Manu Koné shown yellow cards for two of them. There were several multi-player fights between the two sides, which disrupted the rhythm of the game. In the end, France managed to maintain a slim victory, as they booked a quarter-final against Morocco.

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

«They (Paraguay) thought we would show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even in that match we were better than them,» he added.

Mbappé’s emotions were on full display during the whistle. The talismanic forward walked right past a handshake offer from Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill to joyfully celebrate, stoking excitement 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,» Mbappe said.

Paraguay stuck to its own method, the same method that had given them a shock victory over Germany in the Round of 32. Ultimately, the Paraguayan approach failed as France showed its willingness to get its hands dirty.

Published on July 5, 2026