As the round of 16 of this summer's FIFA World Cup gets underway, we take a look at how things went for the PSG superstars in action at the tournament.
Although the round of 32 at this summer's FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico finished just mere hours ago, there is no rest for the wicked as the round of 16 began this evening at 19:00 CET, and with it, there was action for PSG stars.
Indeed so, beginning Achraf Hakimi and Morocco, as they took on co-hosts Canada, albeit the game actually took place in Houston, USA. As usual, Hakimi was named in the starting XI, for cap number 101, at just 27 years of age.
After a tough first half, where Canada created a lot of chances, Morocco were able to ride things out and take advantage in the second half, opening the scoring just five minutes after the break. Two late goals on the counter saw them comfortably win 3-0 and secure their spot in the quarter-finals for a second consecutive World Cup.
Later on in the day, there was action for the French mafia in Philadelphia, as they faced Paraguay, who had surprised many by dumping Germany out on penalties in the previous round, the first time the Germans had ever lost a shootout at the World Cup.
As expected, Lucas Hernandez and Warren Zaire-Emery were on the bench, whilst Ousmane Dembele started. As we predicted earlier, Bradley Barcola got the nod over Desire Doue on the left hand side.
The first half was incredibly cagey, with Paraguay playing very, very deep to try and frustrate France, and it was working. The South Americans were also incredibly physical and dirty. Despite that, it would be Barcola who picked up the only booking of the first half.
Just after the hour mark, the PSG winger was replaced by his club mate Doue. Six minutes later, the former Rennes man won a penalty after being clearly tripped inside the area. Even though it was a stonewall foul, the ref needed VAR to actually award the spot kick.
From there, former PSG forward Kylian Mbappe converted, and France had their breakthrough at long last. Paraguay continued to kick lumps out of them, vigorously, but in the end, somehow, the only three bookings of the game went to players in Blue shirts.
Six minutes from time, Dembele was taken off. Not his best game, but that is completely understandable. In the end, the 2018 winners saw the game out with a hard fought 1-0 victory, and advance to the quarter-finals.
You may have noticed that we did not mention Morocco's opponents earlier. That's because now is a good segway to confirm that they will indeed be playing France, making it Hakimi vs PSG's French mafia, in a rematch of the 2022 semi final. That game will take place on Thursday at 22:00.
