France shines in Philly’s World Cup finale for another sell out crowd

This story originally appeared on WHYY’s Billy Penn.

Hot dogs, parades and fireworks: quintessential pieces to a Fourth of July celebration.

For the second-straight year, Philadelphia can add world-class soccer to that list.

The City of Brotherly Love held its sixth and final FIFA World Cup game, a round of 16 matchup where two-time champions France defeated Paraguay 1-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.

The game was another sellout in the South Philly stadium, the fifth straight, and the stands were painted with the red, white and blue that both France and Paraguay’s flags share.

There were plenty who showed up in U.S.A. jerseys and gear as well.

“Soccer can be a July Fourth activity in America,” said Andrew Herman. “This is a phenomenal way to celebrate and show everyone else from other countries what America is about.”

Herman came in from Chicago for the game and was watching it with his father in-law, Center City resident Jeff Braff.

Braff had attended a World Cup in 1994, when the U.S. last hosted the tournament. He had to go to Washington D.C. for that game though, since Philly was not a host city. He said there was more excitement this tournament, particularly because the current men’s national team was stronger.

“It’s so wonderful to have us be a host city,” Braff said. “The city is super charged … I was in Reading Terminal Market this afternoon and [there were] people from all over wearing all different jerseys. It’s really exciting.”

The stadium previously hosted soccer on July Fourth last year, in the FIFA Club World Cup game between Chelsea and Palmeiras. France’s Malo Gusto was on the Chelsea side playing that game, but did not leave the bench for France’s match.

Temperatures were pushing into the triple digits as the extreme heat wave continued to impact the region. FIFA and stadium organizers worked to keep everyone safe in the heat, and even handed out free bottles of water to fans on their way in. Inside the stadium concourse, the lines for the water fountains were as long as the ones for the merchandise shops.

Sitting in the stands watching the teams practice was too much for Baltimore resident Dee Sherpa. She had to take a break in the shelter of the concourse before kickoff.

“It’s way hotter than I expected,” she exclaimed.

Despite her discomfort, Sherpa said it was all worth it.

“It is one of the [hardest experiences], but it’s a lifetime experience, so I wouldn’t lose it,” she said.

The matchup was billed as a David vs. Goliath battle, with Paraguay having already surprised the world by defeating four-time World Cup champions Germany in penalties the round before.  Head coach Gustavo Alfaro managed to get his side through by playing an ultra defensive low block tactic, often referred to as “parking the bus.”

Markos Mantes and Thomas Hautzinger from Heidelberg, Germany, still came to Philly for Saturday’s game, wearing their Germany jerseys.

The matchup was billed as a David vs. Goliath battle, with Paraguay having already surprised the world by defeating four-time World Cup champions Germany in penalties the round before.

Markos Mantes and Thomas Hautzinger from Heidelberg, Germany, still came to Philly for Saturday’s game, wearing their Germany jerseys.

“Germany [didn’t] play very well in the games before. So, at the end, it was okay that Paraguay reached this last match, though, because at the end, they deserved the win,” Mantes said.

Neither Mantes nor Hautzinger were supporting a side in the game. They expected France to win, but weren’t ruling out another upset for Paraguay.

On Friday, underdog Cabo Verde nearly pulled off what would have been a strong contender for greatest World Cup shock, forcing defending champions Argentina to a 3-2 win in extra time.

Match report

To match the grandeur of the day, the opening ceremonies were scaled up to commemorate America’s 250th birthday.

The singing of America’s anthem was moved closer to kickoff than previous matches, and performed by Tony Award-winning singer Idina Menzel. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was followed by a rendition of “America the Beautiful” by Philly Boys Choir & Chorale and a performance by Philly’s own The Roots while Miss Pennsylvania, Stephanie Skinner, came out in a dress that was made up of over 1,000 square meters of fabric. The July Fourth ceremonies involved a cast of around 180 and more than 100 crew members to carry it out.

Once the game kicked off, it took 22 minutes before France finally managed a shot at Paraguay’s goal, but Manu Koné’s effort deflected off a Paraguayan defender and went wide for a corner.

It quickly became clear that Paraguay were employing the low block again. In the 34th minute, Paraguay’s Andrés Cubas’ showed how the team can also frustrate opposition physically, like they did against the U.S. in Chester last year, when his foul on France captain Kylian Mbappé led to a brief on-field scuffle.

In the second half, Kone’s shot forced Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill to make the first save of the day in the 55th minute.

France finally found its breakthrough when Désiré Doué’s dribble in the penalty box was tripped up by Paraguay midfielder Diego Gómez, then the video assistant referee urged on-field referee Ilgiz Tantashev to review the challenge. 

Mbappé stepped up to take the penalty shot and calmly slotted it into the bottom corner for his seventh goal of the tournament.

Mbappé nearly doubled his tally on the day in the 89th minute, but Gill was able to parry that shot away.

Gill pulled off another incredible double save to deny Mbappé’s two shots in the 96th minute. Sadly, his team’s offense could not pull off similar heroics and the match finished 1-0. It wasn’t the most appealing of games, but France got the job done.

Paraguay didn’t play pretty, but they did frustrate and stifle a France side that usually racks up multiple goals against opponents. Gill, who was named man of the match, couldn’t help getting one last shot in on Mbappé after the final whistle blew by throwing the ball at the Frenchman’s back.

“I gave him my hand to congratulate him, but he ignored me,” Gill explained after the game. “Obviously I entered a heated moment, but that’s all I did. After that, I calmed down. I just wanted to congratulate them. The truth is they’ve had an excellent campaign and they’re candidates to be world champions.”

With the victory France will take on Morocco, after the North African team defeated tournament co-hosts Canada 3-0 earlier in the day. That match will be on Thursday, July 9 at 4 p.m. in Foxboro, Mass.

Here are the recaps for how all of the previous Philly games went.

• Ivory Coast 1-0 Ecuador on June 14
• Brazil 3-0 Haiti on June 19
• France 3-0 Iraq on June 22
• Curaçao 0-2 Ivory Coast on June 25
• Croatia 2-1 Ghana on June 27

As for Philly, that’s a wrap for the games, but the FIFA fan fest at East Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill will continue to be a venue for fans for the remainder of the tournament. The World Cup final is on Sunday, July 19 at 3 p.m. in East Rutherford, N.J.

The US team’s next game is on Monday, a round of 16 match against Belgium at 8 p.m. in Seattle.