French Outraged and Complaining About Referee's Performance After Advancing: "I have nothing more to add..."

"They thought we'd show up in suits, that we'd only play beautiful football with intricate passes. But we can play dirty too. If we have to get our hands dirty, we will. We have no problem with that," Mbappe emphasized, according to DPA. Coach Didier Deschamps criticized Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev for being too lenient with the Paraguayans. "We received three yellow cards, while the opponent fouled us practically constantly. Every team plays its own style, but I could do without some of the insults from the opposition," he stated.

French forward Rayan Cherki was also unhappy with the referee's performance. "How many fouls were there? Thirty, forty? And how many yellow cards? I have nothing more to add to that," he fumed.

Former German referee Patrick Ittrich called Tantashev's performance the worst of the tournament. According to him, he lost control of the match, especially after an incident in the 39th minute when Paraguayan midfielder Matias Galarza struck Mbappe's shoulder off the ball. Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro defended his team's approach after the match, saying: "Our goal is to fight on the field like lions."