Dugout Discussion
4 July 2026 55 comments
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A sweltering Philadelphia Stadium is the venue for the second Round of 16 fixture: France v Paraguay.

Kick-off is at 22:00 BST.

According to the bookies, there was no nation with a better chance of making it through their last-16 tie than Didier Deschamps’ side.

Paraguay, of course, upset the odds when making it past Germany in the Round of 32.

TEAM NEWS

There’s just one change for Les Bleus from the 3-0 win against Sweden.

Aurelien Tchouameni ($6.5m) is only fit enough for bench duty, so Manu Kone ($6.1m) replaces him in the engine room.

Paraguay head coach Gustavo Alfaro makes three alterations.

Omar Alderete ($4.1m), Gustavo Velazquez ($3.8m) and Diego Gomez ($6.8m) come in for Damian Bobadilla ($5.5m), Gabriel Avalos ($4.9m) and Jose Canale ($3.6m).

LINE-UPS

France XI: Maignan, Digne, Saliba, Upamecano, Kounde, Rabiot, Kone, Barcola, Olise, Dembele, Mbappe.

Subs: Samba, Gusto, Tchouameni, Thuram, Kante, Konate, Zaire-Emery, Theo Hernandez, Doue, Lucas Hernandez, Mateta, Risser, Cherki, Akliouche, Lacroix.

Paraguay XI: Gill, Alderete, Gustavo Gomez, Velazquez, Alonso, Caceres, Almiron, Galarza, Cubas, Diego Gomez, Enciso.

Subs: Fernandez, Balbuena, Sosa, Sanabria, Mauricio, Canale, Bobadilla, Romero, Arce, Ojeda, Avalos, Olveira, Caballero, Pitta, Maidana.

55 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. Freshy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    3 hours, 13 mins ago

    Maybe 20 years ago, in South American Tournaments, Both teams would play like Paraguay. You had to pull a knife to get a Yellow

    1. Freshy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      3 hours, 11 mins ago

      Reminded me of that Australia Rugby Tournament

  2. Moxon
    • 11 Years
    3 hours, 1 min ago

    Which MD will the 3rd-Place match be included in? Semi-final or final?

    1. Freshy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      3 hours ago

      Final

  3. Feanor
    • 17 Years
    2 hours, 29 mins ago

    Michael Oliver was getting trashed for giving too many yellows in the early game, but Im sure he feels smug right now.