Mbappe is one behind Messi in the all-time list of World Cup goalscorers after taking his tally to 19 in 19 tournament games.
Incredibly, since 2018, Mbappe has scored more goals in the knockout stages of the World Cup (11) than Brazil (10), England (10), Portugal (9) and Spain (4).
After scoring 13 times in their previous four games in the United States, it looked like being a frustrating game for France and their captain as they failed to register an attempt on target in the first half.
The extreme heat had an impact, with this game going down as one of the hottest World Cup matches of all-time. The temperature at kick-off was recorded on the official page for the National Weather Service at 38.3C.
The record for a World Cup game stands at 43C, when the Republic of Ireland played Mexico in Florida in 1994.
Yet France still found a way to overcome the heat – and Paraguay’s rough tactics.
“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.
“It wasn’t easy. They use every trick in the book. It’s not the kind of football that will bring people to the stadium, but they defended well. It is always difficult against these South American teams.”
Mbappe was targeted from the start but kept his cool and reacted to Paraguay’s provocation by laughing off their tactics on the pitch.
“I love how Mbappe has behaved in this game,” added Hart.
“The Paraguay players have come for him from minute one. When he was laughing at the players, he is allowed to be arrogant.
“The referee didn’t help in any circumstances. The fact that not one Paraguayan was booked inside the 90 minutes is astonishing.”
Thomas Hitzlsperger, the former Germany midfielder, told BBC One that he had “no respect” for Paraguay over the way they behaved.
“If you are from Paraguay, you probably like the team – they are like warriors,” he added.
“If you are French or neutral, you can have no respect for them any more. This is not just disgraceful, this is even worse.”
