"Disgusting Football," "Catenaccio," "Absolute Disgrace": European Media Tear Apart Paraguay and the Referee

Paraguay's conduct during their Round of 16 clash against France at the 2026 World Cup has drawn widespread condemnation and negative reviews from Europe's leading sports media outlets.

The South Americans lost 1-0, defending stoutly, but their performance was primarily remembered for constant provocations, rough play, and a decidedly unattractive brand of football. Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev also faced criticism for failing to issue a single yellow card to Paraguay during regular time.

"France escaped a minefield. Paraguay was aided by a referee who excessively tolerated the 'red-and-whites'' rough play until Mbappé converted the penalty," wrote Pablo Polo of "Marca," also noting that "Dué awakened the French team" after coming on as a substitute. Another Spanish publication, "AS," ran with the headline: "France opened a safe."

In Germany, the South American players' behavior was certainly not well-received, even infuriating journalist Jan Henkel: "Such things drive me crazy. This is disgusting football," he fumed on "MagentaTV," before also attacking the referee, who "had absolutely no control over the match."

Also in Germany, "Bild" highlighted Paraguay's overly aggressive play: "Sneaky blows against French superstars," read the tabloid's headline. "The South Americans used every means, even the roughest ones," but "France proved impenetrable."

The publication also focused on a sharp clash between Kylian Mbappé and Matías Galarza: "The Paraguayan delivered an off-the-ball punch, hitting him in the upper body. Strangely, Galarza received no card. Even more surprisingly, VAR did not intervene. This was a clear act of violence that should have resulted in a red card."

This impunity also caused astonishment in England: "Alfaro's team committed 13 fouls but finished the match without a single yellow card, while France received three yellow cards for 11 fouls," noted the BBC, where former goalkeeper and now analyst, Joe Hart, sharply criticized the opponents of "Les Bleus." "The Paraguayan players were an absolute disgrace. If they were on my team, I'd drag half of them off the pitch. I would never want to play football that way."

Former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger added: "If you're from Paraguay, maybe you like this team; they're like warriors. If you're French or a neutral fan, maybe you can no longer respect them. This isn't just disgraceful, it's even worse."

"Before the match, I had great respect for them. Joe Hart said 'disgraceful,' but I have other German words to describe them, I just don't know how to say them in English. But now I have almost no respect for them, especially because of how they behaved during the penalty incident and how they tried to dig up the pitch around the spot."

Portuguese newspaper "Record" was also unforgiving: "There are many ways to enjoy football, but the style of play Paraguay tried to display on Saturday against France is unlikely to be one of them." More neutrally, Brazilian publication "Lance!" opined that "Paraguay, with five at the back, closed down spaces, relying entirely on physicality, and frustrated 'Les Bleus' for much of the match."

The final word goes to our colleagues at "Gazzetta dello Sport," who, despite Italy's absence from the World Cup, appreciated the spectacle: "We haven't seen such a Catenaccio in a long time," quipped the Italian sports daily.