Paraguay has been labeled a "disgrace" and "embarrassing" by BBC pundits for the tactics employed during their 1-0 World Cup defeat against France. The South American team was criticized for repeatedly fouling, feigning injury, and engaging in overly aggressive conduct in an attempt to provoke their opponents.
Pundits expressed dismay at the lack of disciplinary action from the referee, with former England goalkeeper Joe Hart stating, "The Paraguayan players were an absolute disgrace tonight." He added that the fact no Paraguayan player received a booking during the 90 minutes was "absolutely astonishing."
Micah Richards echoed Hart's sentiments, expressing disappointment as he believed Paraguay did not need to resort to such tactics, especially after demonstrating defensive strength in previous matches. "Paraguay are better than that though," Richards said. "Defensively they were so good, they were organised, they don't need to get into these sort of antics, it was embarrassing to see."
Thomas Hitzlsperger, another pundit, stated he had lost respect for the Paraguayan team due to their behavior, particularly concerning a penalty incident. "I had a lot of respect for Paraguay heading into the game... I have little to no respect anymore for this Paraguay team, the way they behaved on the penalty incident," he commented.
Despite the provocation, French players largely maintained their composure. Kylian Mbappe, who scored the decisive penalty, addressed the situation post-match, saying, "If they tell us to fk off, we will also tell them to fk off." He elaborated, "If we have to get our hands dirty, we’ll do it. Apologies for the expression. They thought we’d just turn up in tuxedos, make a few flashy moves and play a few passes. We know how to play rough football too. And that’s exactly what we did today – we won. We were even better than them at that."
France, considered one of the most impressive teams in the tournament so far, demonstrated composure under pressure. This resilience could prove beneficial as they advance to face Morocco in the quarter-finals.
