Paraguay vs. France: Head-to-head record and past meetings after World Cup 2026 last-16 clash

France will endeavour to move one step closer to 2026 World Cup glory when they face Paraguay in a last-16 clash held in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Les Bleus boast a 100% record at this summer's tournament, with three group-stage wins followed by a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sweden in the round of 32 on Tuesday.

A day earlier, Paraguay stunned four-time world champions Germany with a penalty-shootout triumph following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes.

Ahead of this weekend's encounter, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two nations.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 6

Paraguay wins: 0

Draws: 2

France wins: 4

Paraguay and France have met six times on the international stage across both friendly and competitive action, and it is Les Bleus who lead the head-to-head record with four wins, while the sides have also shared two draws.

A whopping 10 goals were scored in the very first meeting between these two nations at the 1958 World Cup, with France securing a 7-3 victory in the group stage courtesy of a hat-trick from Just Fontaine.

Paraguay and France would wait 40 years before locking horns on the global scene once again, when a much tighter World Cup round of 16 contest was settled in 1998 by a 114th-minute golden goal from Les Bleus' Laurent Blanc, whose side were captained by Didier Deschamps.

A run of three international friendlies followed that knockout tie, with La Albirroja holding their European opponents to a draw twice - 0-0 in May 2008 before a 1-1 stalemate in June 2014 that saw Victor Caceres score an 89th-minute equaliser to cancel out Antoine Griezmann's opener.

Paraguay and France also clashed in Rennes in June 2017, and it was certainly a match to forget for the South Americans as they suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat. Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick for Les Bleus, while Griezmann and Moussa Sissoko were also on the scoresheet.

Most recently, France met Paraguay in the round of 16 at World Cup 2026, recreating the fixture and scoreline from their 1998 showdown as Deschamps's team ran out 1-0 winners.

The game itself was characterised by a series of unsportsmanlike incidents from Gustavo Alfaro's Los Guaranies, who received widespread criticism for their behaviour, though Kylian Mbappe - who scored the winner from the penalty spot - said that Les Bleus were happy to play 'dirty'.

That triumph set up a quarter-final showdown with Morocco for France, while Paraguay went home frustrated having been laughed away by a professional Les Bleus.