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

Lee Hodges shot 4-under-par 67 and moved into a tie with Lucas Glover through three rounds of the John Deere Classic on Saturday at Silvis, Ill.

Glover, the second-round leader, posted 69. The duo is at 16-under 197 with a one-stroke advantage going into Sunday’s final round at TPC Deere Run.

Ben Kohles (66 on Saturday), Jackson Suber (66) and Zac Blair (67) are one shot back. No member of that trio has won on the PGA Tour.

Other than a birdie on No. 17, Glover had only pars on the backside.

Kohles, appearing in a PGA Tour tournament for the eighth time this year, recorded birdies on three of the final five holes.

Most golfers had completed their rounds before a lightning delay with 10 golfers still needing to finish the round. Play resumed about 45 minutes later.

Blair, playing his ninth PGA Tour event of the season, posted an eagle on the second hole, though he gave that back with a double-bogey 6 on No. 11 marking the only glitch in his round until a bogey on No. 18.

Doug Ghim (65) is in sixth at 14 under and Zach Johnson (66) seventh at 13 under.

Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (69) is tied for eighth place at 12 under with amateur Preston Stout (66), Chandler Phillips (65) and Max Homa (68).

Other than Hisatsune, the leaderboard’s top 18 golfers is comprised of U.S. golfers, perhaps fitting for Independence Day.

The best round of the day was turned in by Rickie Fowler with 63, a mark that reflected just one bogey. He notched an eagle on the par-4 14th, with a putt from about 40 feet and is among those tied for 12th at 11 under.

The start of the round was delayed because of weather-related concerns, then golfers were sent off on Nos. 1 and 10 in threesomes, so the round was on track to be completed sooner than initially projected until the suspension late in the round.

–Field Level Media

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For the first time in this World Cup, two top-scoring stars meet in a knockout-round encounter when Vinicius Junior’s Brazil face Erling Haaland’s Norway in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Haaland has scored five times in Norway’s first World Cup appearance since 1998. He is tied for third behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi (seven) and France’s Kylian Mbappe (seven). Vinicius Junior was one of several players sitting on four goals.

For Norway, the match also will be arguably the biggest in the Nordic nation’s footballing history — at least since they last faced Brazil at that ‘98 tournament and earned a 2-1 victory in the group finale to book their place in the last 16.

That version of Brazil entered as tournament favorites and rotated its squad after clinching its place in the knockouts. This one is seen by some as eminently beatable, presenting Norway a chance to make national history with a first quarterfinal appearance.

“We need to play the match, not the circumstances,” insisted Norway manager Stole Solbakken. “We need to make sure that we don’t play according to the occasion but that we simply play the match.”

That largely means continuing to do what Norway have done, winning three of their four matches with their lone defeat coming while rotating their squad against France having already secured the last 32.

Haaland scored the late winner in a compelling 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in the round of 32 in Arlington, Texas, and he’s found the net in all three of his tournament appearances. But while Brazil are synonymous globally with attacking football, Haaland may face the most formidable defensive duo he has seen so far in center backs Gabriel Magalhaes and Marquinhos.

“I think that Brazil has one of the greatest partnerships in the central defense in this World Cup,” Solbakken said. “But it’s, for me, more about Brazil against Norway and not those two against Haaland.”

Norway could be facing a second game without right back Julian Ryerson, but it’s Brazil who carry the more influential injury absence with Lucas Paqueta suffering a hamstring strain during their 2-1 victory over Japan in the round of 32.

That could bring more burden on midfield colleague Bruno Guimaraes, whose four assists rank second in the tournament behind the five of France’s Michael Olise. But the Newcastle United man believes he’s ready.

“The last World Cup was definitely a learning opportunity for me,” the 28-year-old said through an interpreter. “I wasn’t up to the task. I have to be quite honest with you. … But in this World Cup, my mindset is completely different. Again, this is my biggest dream. And I just want to play my best brand of football.”

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti, the five-time UEFA Champions League winner hired 13 months ago to right what appeared to be a wayward ship, admitted there won’t be a perfect solution for replacing the work Paqueta does in connecting the defense to the attack.

“We do not have anyone else on the team with the same characteristics as Lucas Paqueta, so we’ll have to find someone else,” he said through an interpreter. “I’ll choose the player based on the type of match that we expect, considering obviously the strength of our opponent, because I think that’s something that we always have to take into account. And of course, we need to think about the idea that we want to score against them tomorrow.”

–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media