PHILADELPHIA

After France secured a narrow 1-0 victory against Paraguay on Saturday, the mood wasn’t all that bright in Philadelphia.

Orlando Gil attempted to throw a soccer ball at Kylian Mbappé after the final whistle when Mbappé declined to shake hands. Gil reached out, but Mbappé, the match’s only goal-scorer, did not respond, leading Gil to toss the ball at his back.

This action caused a minor scuffle, prompting other French players to confront Gil about his behavior.

Meanwhile, Mbappé seemed largely oblivious to the situation, and the confrontation dispersed quickly, allowing the French team to celebrate in Philadelphia.

“This is football. I extended my hand to congratulate him, but he just ignored me,” Gil said post-game. “It was an exciting moment, but that’s all I did. Afterward, I settled down. I genuinely wanted to congratulate them. They’re serious contenders for the World Cup, so they’ve performed well.”

Mbappé netted his seventh goal of the World Cup, helping France move forward to the quarter-finals in Boston, where they’ll face Morocco next Thursday.

Though he didn’t address reporters directly after the game, Mbappé did share some thoughts with World Cup broadcast partners.

“If I need to get my hands dirty, I will,” Mbappé remarked to broadcasters following the match. “They thought we’d just stroll in, looking sharp, making fancy plays and beautiful passes. We can play tough football, too.”

“And that’s exactly what we did today. We were simply better than them in that aspect.”

Several yellow cards were given out during the match, and Mbappé was involved in a controversial tackle early on by a Paraguayan defender, which stirred some tension on the field.