France ousts Paraguay after World Cup Round of 16 kicks off with Morocco’s rout of Canada

A frustrating but complete win for France, who will likely not have kind things to say about the refereeing.

Paraguay’s upstart World Cup run comes to an end.

Olise and Matías Galarza get into an exchange, and Galarza boldly flops despite no contact from Olise. But the referee falls for it, and gives Olise a yellow card. The refereeing in this second half has left a lot to be desired.

Mike Maignan gets a nervy save as Paraguay gets a final chance.

Kylian Mbappé then gets two key shots in a row, but both are saved by Gill

Jules Koundé goes down after a hit to the face from Matías Galarza — which is not called by the referee, again, though he does stop to check on Koundé.

Paraguay was furious that their attempt to take a throw-in was delayed.

France finally earns a free kick as Dayot Upamecano is dragged around by Gustavo Caballero.

Play has definitely slowed down on both ends of the field, though, as France’s win starts to cement.

Maurício takes advantage of a turnover, and hits a bouncing shot towards Mike Maignan, who gets a big save to keep Paraguay scoreless.

10 minutes of stoppage time coming up.

Kylian Mbappé with another great shot, but it’s grabbed by Orlando Gill. That’s three shots on target now for France.

Paraguay gets a chance, but Júnior Alonso’s shot goes well wide right. Not a lot of threatening opportunities for Paraguay to try and equalize so far, as this game starts to peter towards a close.

France uses its second sub of the match to give Ousmane Dembélé a rest, replacing him with Rayan Cherki.

Paraguay, for what it’s worth, still has one sub remaining, but is out of substitution windows. France has three subs left

Koné tackles Juan José Cáceres while reaching for the ball, but the contact is just late enough for a yellow card. Cáceres sells it appropriately, drawing his second French yellow of the match.

France defender Dayot Upamecano gets elbowed in the stomach by Gabriel Ávalos, and while a foul is called, the Paraguayan is not given a yellow for the contact. That’s the kind of foul that would’ve offered a good chance for Ilgiz Tantashev to try and control this game a bit more.

Kylian Mbappé with another impressive roll to the ground, but it comes after he gets tangled up with Juan José Cáceres — and, specifically, after Cáceres lashes out his foot to tap Mbappé’s leg. Things are getting a bit silly on both sides.

Adrien Rabiot gets flattened with a crunchy tackle, and is still down while the game heads into the second hydrat

Kylian Mbappé does it again, with the French captain hitting a beautiful penalty kick into the right back corner of the goal. Mbappé leaned enough to the left that Orlando Gill dives the wrong way, before Mbappé finds the back of the net with relative ease.

Lets the mind games begin: Paraguayan players cluster around the spot to complain to the ref and try to psych out Mbappé, who’s taking the kick. Orlando Gill, Paraguay’s goalkeeper, also hovers near him before finally moving back to his line.

Another foul on Doué in the box, initially missed by the referee, is flagged by the VAR. Center Ilgiz Tantashev goes to the monitor, and eventually rules it a penalty.

Désiré Doué is taken down outside the box in what appears to be a foul, but the referee declines to call it, robbing France of a very dangerous free kick opportunity.

Les Bleus keep the ball, but Kylian Mbappé skies his chance.

Paraguay is making yet another substitution in a short span, with striker Julio Enciso exiting the game for Gustavo Caballero.

France then uses its first sub, taking out Bradley Barcola — who is on a yellow — and replacing him with Désiré Doué

Paraguayan defender Omar Alderete goes down for a moment, and is eventually subbed off for José Canale. Alderete, who has been dealing with a knee injury, appears to be limping slightly as he exits the field.