The emphasis in the game is reported as staying safe, given the officials refused to protect the players.

“We know how to play ugly football,” Mabppe said afterwards.

“They [Paraguay] thought we’d show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even at that game, we were better than them.

“That’s their style of football – there’s no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried to beat us that way, but we won.”

Deschamps, who is now the first coach to secure 10 World Cup knockout victories, revealed he had instructed his players to shield Mbappe in the closing stages as Paraguay searched for a way back into the game.

“I asked the two biggest lads to go and stand around Kylian at the end because they were going to chop him down,” Deschamps added.

[…]

But it went wrong for Ilgiz Tantashev.

Tantashev should have been fully aware of how Paraguay were likely to play – tough tackling and trying to limit France’s ability to play freely.

The Uzbek referee should have clamped down earlier, shown his authority and given the impression that the rough tactics would not be tolerated.

Instead, the referee apparently tried to penalize the team protecting itself, enabling the obvious aggressors.