SportsCatch
EN

Deschamps sticks with his star lineup against surprise package Paraguay in World Cup last 16

Without Tchouaméni, Didier Deschamps fields an almost unchanged team Saturday night in Philadelphia to face Paraguay, the surprise eliminators of Germany, in the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup.

1 min read
Deschamps sticks with his star lineup against surprise package Paraguay in World Cup last 16
Share

Didier Deschamps unveiled his lineup for the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup pitting France against Paraguay this Saturday, July 4 at 11 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The French manager chose continuity, fielding the eleven that proved most convincing throughout the tournament from the opening whistle.

Paraguay earned their place in this matchup by eliminating Germany in the previous round, depriving the Blues of a highly anticipated clash with the Mannschaft. The confrontation with the Paraguayans carries historical resonance: the two nations had already met in the last 16 during the 1998 World Cup, at this same stage of the competition. Didier Deschamps was then the captain; he is now the manager.

The absence of Aurélien Tchouaméni forces Deschamps to keep Manu Koné in midfield, alongside Adrien Rabiot. In defense, Lucas Digne retains his left-back position, while Bradley Barcola is fielded again on the left wing. The attacking trio of Ousmane Dembélé – Michael Olise – Kylian Mbappé, captain, is also retained without surprise.

Official Lineups

Paraguay: Gill — J. Caceres, Velasquez, G. Gomez, J. Canale, J. Alonso — Almiron, D. Gomez, A. Cubas, Galarza — Enciso.

France: Maignan — Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne — Koné, Rabiot — Dembélé, Olise, Barcola — Mbappé (c).

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}