France survive Paraguay's prickly test but warning lights flash

PHILADELPHIA, July 4 : France arrived in Philadelphia with the swagger of World Cup heavyweights and left looking like they had spent the afternoon wrestling a cactus, grinding out a narrow victory over Paraguay in sweltering conditions.

Their win was less a showcase of French elegance than a survival exercise, with Kylian Mbappe's penalty finally settling an ill-tempered contest that Paraguay had dragged into their preferred territory of physical confrontation and tactical disruption.

Paraguay offered something France rarely face: tight man-marking, bodies around the wingers and just enough fouls, fussing and provocation to make the favourites twitch.

It almost worked.

Rarely do Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise look so short of rhythm. France are used to facing zonal blocks, rehearsed pressing traps and neat defensive lines.

Paraguay instead turned the match into a series of physical personal duels, doubling up wide and denying the French attackers the time and angles they usually bend to their will.

The first half told the story, with France failing to create a clear-cut chance before the break.

Paraguay keeper Orlando Gill was required only to deal with a harmless low effort from Adrien Rabiot, while the excellent Matias Galarza and Andres Cubas closed central spaces and gave France little comfort.

Miguel Almiron and Julio Enciso also gave Paraguay just enough menace to make France centre backs William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano work, even if that threat often came from scraps rather than structure.

Yet Paraguay's plan carried a fatal flaw that became more glaring as the heat intensified. Their defensive approach came with almost no counter-attacking mechanism beyond long balls into space.

That left Enciso chasing