Matías Galarza Fonda was accused of a possible off-the-ball hit on Kylian Mbappé in France’s 1-0 win over Paraguay, and neither Tantashev nor VAR punished the contact. The dispute sits inside a match already marked by a penalty, a late stare-down, and several clashes between French and Paraguayan players.
Mbappé’s 1-0 edge
Mbappé scored the only goal from the spot after Tantashev awarded a penalty for a foul on Doué. That left France ahead 1-0 and gave the forward his seventh goal in the Copa del Mundo, while he moved to 19 goals in the tournament’s history.
The penalty changed the shape of the match, but it did not settle the edge between the two sides. Mbappé had already argued with Diego Gómez and Andrés Cubas before the disputed moment involving Galarza Fonda, and the tone stayed sharp through the finish.
Galarza Fonda and Kylian
The incident centered on a possible strike away from the ball, the kind of contact that can draw a red card if the referee judges it as violent conduct or serious foul play. In this case, the officials did not treat it that way. A clip circulated with the caption: “EL GOLPE DE GALARZA FONDA A MBAPPÉ 💥¿Era para tarjeta roja? 🤔🟥”
Mbappé added to the friction late in the match. He laughed at Galarza when the ball went to the corner, then celebrated in front of Orlando Gill at the final whistle.
That sequence leaves the same dispute at the center of the replay debate: a possible red-card offense by Galarza Fonda, no sanction from the referee or VAR, and a France victory that now reads as more than a 1-0 scoreline. Mbappé is one goal behind Leo in all-time tournament goals, and the incident will linger because the match rules give officials a clear threshold, but they drew the line short of punishment here.
Paraguay and France
The game also featured Mbappé’s insult toward Junior Alonso and a wider set of confrontations that made the closing stages harder to separate from the controversy. For Paraguay, the focus turns to how the defensive edge and the lack of a card in the Galarza episode shaped a knockout match that France still finished with the only goal.
