Kylian Mbappé Eyes Trophies as France Prepares for Paraguay Clash

Kylian Mbappé is chasing history, but not the kind that keeps statisticians warm at night.

With two ruthless finishes in France’s 3-0 dismantling of Sweden in the round of 32, the 27-year-old moved to 18 World Cup goals in 18 games, one behind Lionel Messi’s all-time record of 19. He also joined the Argentine on six strikes at this tournament, the pair already pulling away in the Golden Boot race.

Yet when Mbappé spoke afterwards, the numbers barely registered.

“The goal is to go as far as possible – to make it to July 19th and come back here,” he said, eyes fixed on New York and the final, not the record books. The message was clear: the only tally that really matters is trophies.

Mbappé’s tunnel vision as France eye Paraguay test

France’s performance against Sweden felt like a statement. Les Bleus accelerated through the gears, killed the tie early and never looked remotely threatened. It was the kind of night that makes a heavyweight look inevitable.

But the bracket is littered with warnings.

Next up in Philadelphia are Paraguay, the same Paraguay who parked every available bus against Germany and then sent the four-time world champions home on penalties. They will not suddenly turn into romantics against Mbappé and company.

Mbappé knows it.

“We’ll keep working between now and the Paraguay match to see what we can improve,” he said. “There are still some sequences that aren't quite clear enough, there’s room for improvement.”

France will expect to have most of the ball and most of the chances. Paraguay will expect to suffer. Somewhere in between, this tie will be decided. If France advance, a quarter-final against co-hosts Canada or Morocco awaits – another layer of noise, another test of composure.

For now, Mbappé leans on one simple truth.

“Our ability to score goals means we always have the chance to take the lead in matches.”

Messi, meanwhile, gets Cape Verde in the last 32 on Friday. The race between two generational forwards continues, but one eye is already on New York and the night that will define them both.

Belgium’s golden generation on the clock

Belgium have already exorcised one ghost. Top of Group G, a 5-1 hammering of New Zealand in their final group game, and a place in the knockouts secured – a clear upgrade on the flat, joyless campaign that ended at the group stage in Qatar.

Rudi Garcia wanted his side to win the group. They did. One win, two draws, steady rather than spectacular, but efficient enough to avoid early turbulence.

Now comes the real examination.

Senegal await in the knockout round on Wednesday, and Garcia isn’t dressing it up.

“Senegal is a big team. But you have to beat them, too, if you want to go far in a World Cup,” he said.

Belgium’s “golden generation” has been living with that phrase for a decade. After the high of third place in 2018, the comedown in 2022 was brutal. This tournament, perhaps the last for several of their stars at this level, still hangs in the balance.

Romelu Lukaku can feel the jeopardy.

“We know it will be a tough match,” the striker said. “Senegal has a lot of top-level players, and the coach is, too. I think it’s 50-50. We really shouldn’t underestimate them.”

Events elsewhere have underlined the danger of doing exactly that. Germany, out to Paraguay. The Netherlands, ambushed by Morocco. Two European giants gone in the space of one chaotic night.

“It doesn’t matter who the favorite is,” said forward Charles De Ketelaere. “We have confidence and need to be sharp. Yesterday showed that it doesn’t matter if you are the favorite.”

Belgium have been tight at the back so far, conceding just twice in three games with Thibaut Courtois anchoring the defence. That solidity will be tested by a Senegal side coming off a 5-0 demolition of Iraq, led by Sadio Mané and brimming with attacking intent.

There is a weakness, though. Édouard Mendy, injured in the 3-2 loss to Norway, will not play. Pape Thiaw will again turn to Mory Diaw, who kept a clean sheet against Iraq.

“Mory had a great performance,” Thiaw said. “He kept a clean sheet and I think as the goalkeeper tomorrow, we hope that we’ll also come up with a clean sheet.”

Thiaw doesn’t sound like a man cowed by the occasion.

“It’s not because you finished top of your group that you’re not going to be knocked out in the next round,” he said. “That’s exactly what happened with the Netherlands. It’s another tournament starting. We are looking for the win tomorrow so that we can continue our journey.”

Zeno Debast, the young centre-back, has finally rejoined full training after a left leg injury and MRI. He is available, but Garcia admits the timing is too tight; the existing back line will carry the load again.

The stakes are obvious. For Belgium’s campaign to be remembered as anything other than a polite farewell, it has to pass through Senegal.

England walk the tightrope against DR Congo

The World Cup has already claimed two European heavyweights. England have watched Germany and the Netherlands fall and know exactly what comes next: a test of nerve against a dangerous underdog with nothing to lose.

Thomas Tuchel’s side face the Democratic Republic of Congo in Atlanta on Wednesday for a place in the last 16. On paper, it is a tie England should control. Tuchel isn’t hiding from that.

“I think we can just accept it, we are the favorites,” he said.

The warning followed immediately.

“The games so far in round of 32 speak a very clear language. It’s narrow, narrow margins.”

England’s 60-year wait for a major trophy hangs over every knockout game they play. This one will be no different. They will lean heavily on Jude Bellingham’s authority in midfield and Harry Kane’s penalty-box edge, but they will do so without Reece James, whose injury robs Tuchel of an influential presence on the right.

DR Congo, by contrast, arrive with house money in their pockets. For Sébastien Desabre, the job is already a success.

“Our World Cup is already a success relative to our goals,” the Frenchman said. “The pressure is on the England team.”

His squad tells its own story of a global diaspora. Of the 26 players, 20 were born outside the country, many in France. Yoane Wissa is a familiar face to English defenders from the Premier League. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe both came through England’s youth ranks before choosing DR Congo.

This is a team built from scattered roots, united by a shared flag and an unexpected opportunity. England carry the burden of expectation; DR Congo carry freedom.

On recent evidence, that can be a powerful weapon.

USA brace for a watershed night

While Europe wrestles with its own anxieties, the United States stands on the brink of something else entirely.

In a crowded American sports calendar, football has spent decades fighting for relevance. On Wednesday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, as the USA meet Bosnia-Herzegovina in the last 32, it gets a chance to step onto centre stage.

Up to 30 million viewers are expected to tune in. For Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and their teammates, this is more than a knockout tie. It is a referendum on where the sport sits in their country.

“Everyone knows in the back of our minds what this could do for this country,” Reyna said. “We feel the country rallying around us. We see the momentum it's bringing to the sport in this country, just through the group stage. But we also understand if we make a nice run in this tournament, what it could really do for the sport.”

The USA have not won a World Cup knockout match in almost 25 years. Break that drought now, in prime time, and a new generation of fans might just lock in for good.

A tournament on edge

Everywhere you look, the World Cup is tightening.

Mbappé and France glide through Sweden but now run into a Paraguay side that has already bloodied a giant. Belgium’s ageing stars must survive Senegal’s ferocity to keep their window open. England walk a familiar tightrope against a fearless DR Congo. The USA chase a moment that could shift an entire sporting culture.

On Tuesday, France’s players sprinted to Didier Deschamps after one of Mbappé’s goals, wrapping their coach in a hug in the wake of his mother’s death. “We are all together,” Mbappé told beIN Sports. It was a small scene, but a telling one. Teams that go far in tournaments usually have something deeper than tactics binding them.

Erling Haaland’s scrappy winner for Norway against Ivory Coast, securing a first-ever trip to the last 16, added another thread to a tournament that refuses to settle.

Records are falling. Giants are stumbling. New stories are forcing their way into the spotlight.

The question now is not who looks strongest on paper, but who can keep their nerve as the margins shrink and the nights get heavier.