Sports
Kylian Mbappe's penalty lifts France past Paraguay into quarterfinals
July 4, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.; France’s Kylian Mbappe scores their first goal past Paraguay’s Orlando Gill from the penalty spot. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images PHILADELPHIA — Kylian Mbappe converted from the spot for his 19th World Cup goal and seventh of this tournament as France outlasted Paraguay to reach the quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory on Saturday in a steamy round of 16 encounter.
With the penalty, earned by substitute Desire Doue’s slaloming run into the area, Mbappe pulled even with Argentina’s Lionel Messi atop the 2026 Golden Boot leaderboard and moved within one of the 39-year-old for the all-time World Cup goals lead.
It was all Les Bleus needed against a resilient but limited Albirroja side, who defended admirably in sweltering conditions with temperatures nearing 100 Fahrenheit while offering little going forward.
France advance to meet Morocco next Thursday in Foxborough, Mass., in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal that ended in a 2-0 French victory.
Paraguay shocked Germany on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 on Monday, a result that inspired president Santiago Pena to declare Tuesday a national holiday.
But the Albirroja still exited a round shy of their all-time best quarterfinal finish in 2010, which doubled as their last World Cup finals appearance.
The South Americans frustrated the two-time World Champions throughout the first half and well into the second, aided in part by the card-shy approach of Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev. When he did reach for his pocket, it was puzzlingly for three French offenders even though Paraguay led 12-9 in fouls.
But Paraguay had no solution for the injection of energy Doue brought after Didier Deschamps inserted him in the 61st minute for Bradley Barcola.
Moments after Tantashev waved off appeals for a foul on Mbappe just outside the box, Doue’s excellent incisive dribbling in from the left forced an awkward challenge from the left leg of Diego Gomez that required the referee to make another decision.
Initially he reached the same conclusion and held his whistle, only to be summoned to the replay monitor by his VAR lead Juan Lara. Eventually he saw Gomez’s clear foul.
After some delaying tactics by Paraguay on the spot, Mbappe neatly converted into the bottom right corner as goalkeeper Orlando Gill guessed in the opposite direction.
Clearly fatigued by the conditions and their 120-minute effort against the Germans, Paraguay tried at last to get numbers forward. Substitute Mauricio mustered their first effort on target in the 90th minute.
But it was France who looked more likely to add another goal, with Gill doing well to deny Mbappe a brace with one stop in the 89th minute and two more in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time.
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
Sports
Reds activate RHP Hunter Greene for season debut
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene (21) walks back to the dugout in the sixth inning between Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Sept. 7, 2025. The Cincinnati Reds activated right-hander Hunter Greene from the injured list in advance of his season debut Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.
In corresponding moves, the Reds optioned right-hander Chase Petty to Triple-A Louisville, while outfielder Will Benson was designated for assignment.
Greene, 26, has been on the injured list since the end of March when he had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.
When healthy, Greene has been one of the National League’s best pitchers over the last two seasons, posting a 16-9 record with a 2.76 ERA over 258 innings with 301 strikeouts. However, he made only 45 starts as he lost time to a groin strain and elbow injuries.
Greene made two starts for Triple-A Louisville to prepare for his return. In his last start, he threw 6 1/3 innings in a 3-0 win, retiring the last 16 batters he faced while throwing 82 pitches.
Petty, 23, is 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA in 10 appearances (two starts) for the Reds this season.
Benson, 28, batted .188 with three home runs and six RBIs in 51 games for Cincinnati this season. In five seasons with the Cleveland Guardians (2022-23) and Reds, he is a career .221 hitter with 40 home runs and 124 RBIs in 405 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twins RHP Zebby Matthews (foot) departs vs. Yankees
Jul 4, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews (52) pitches in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Minnesota Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews left Saturday’s game against the host New York Yankees due to a right foot laceration.
In the fifth inning, Matthews winced after throwing a 95 mph fastball out of the strike zone to Ben Rice.
A trainer and manager Derek Shelton went to the mound to check on him. Matthews gave a thumbs up and stayed on after throwing a warmup pitch.
Matthews threw three more balls out of the strike zone to Rice for his third walk of the fifth and was lifted.
Matthews allowed four runs and three hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Entering Saturday, the right-hander was 4-5 with a 4.43 ERA in 11 starts this season
–Field Level Media
Sports
France's Aurelien Tchouameni not in Starting XI vs. Paraguay
July 3, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.; France’s Aurelien Tchouameni with teammates during training. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is out of manager Didier Deschamps’s starting XI for Saturday’s round of 16 clash with Paraguay with a reported groin issue.
Meanwhile, Paraguay will see center back Omar Alderete return to manager Gustavo Alfaro’s back five after missing the round of 32 with a knee injury.
Tchouameni has played in three of France’s four matches, going the full 90 minutes in all three of his appearances. According to French sports newspaper L’Equipe, he left Friday’s training session early.
In the Real Madrid midfielder’s absence, Manu Kone and Adrien Rabiot were manning the double-pivot for Deschamps. Rabiot has played 270 minutes and Kone logged 180. Deschamps has rotated most of his squad during the tournament.
Alderete suffered his injury in Paraguay’s group stage finale against Australia. He missed the dramatic win over Germany on penalties last Monday and had not participated in full team training most of the week, Alfaro said Friday.
–Field Level Media
Reds activate RHP Hunter Greene for season debut
Twins RHP Zebby Matthews (foot) departs vs. Yankees
