The “astonishing” game led to one team being labelled “embarrassing”, “an absolute disgrace”, and showing “no respect”.
France superstar Kylian Mbappe was involved in a stunning spat with Paraguay keeper Orlando Gill at the end of a brutal World Cup match.
Captain Mbappe scored a second-half penalty to send his country through as the two-time champions ground out a 1-0 win over a hugely physical Paraguay side.
Watch the shock moment between Mbappe and Gill via the video player above
France had adopted the favourites tag after some scintillating performances at the World Cup, but were forced to show grit and fight against their South American opponents.
Astonishingly, no Paraguay player was booked despite Andres Cubas wiping out Adrien Rabiot, Juan Jose Caceres kicking Mbappe, and Gabriel Avalos elbowing Dayot Upamecano.
Gustavo Velazquez also scuffed up the penalty spot before Mbappe netted the winner from 12 yards.
And the ugly scenes continued immediately after the final whistle.
As referee Uzbekistan referee Ilgiz Tantashev brought the game to an end, Paraguay keeper Gill walked over to Mbappe and attempted to shake hands.
But because of the treatment Mbappe had received during the game, he walked past his opponent and began roaring in front of the France fans.
Out of frustration, Gill then launched the ball at Mbappe’s back — a petulant act that was caught on camera.
Paraguay’s behaviour was condemned by BBC pundit and former England keeper Joe Hart who said: “Paraguay’s players were an absolute disgrace. If they were on my team, I’d be dragging them off the pitch.”
While ex-England defender Micah Richards added: “It was embarrassing to see. Paraguay are better than that. Defensively they were so good and they didn’t need to get into these antics.”
Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger also criticised Paraguay by insisting you can have “no respect” for them.
France boss Didier Deschamps claimed “there were some insults from the other bench”, but Mbappe was composed with his response.
He said: “We know how to play ugly football. They [Paraguay] thought we’d show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even at that game, we were better than them.
“That’s their style of football — there’s no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried to beat us that way, but we won.”
Social media exploded with criticism of Paraguay as MusialaEra said: “Threw the ball at Mbappe when he rightfully refused to shake hands with him. Paraguay is the most disgraceful team I‘ve ever seen.”
Alastair Campbell added: “How France have ended up with three yellow cards and Paraguay none is beyond belief. I don’t think the Uzbek ref will be required any further.”
While journalist Oliver Kay said: “Shocked by some of the refereeing we’ve seen at this World Cup — France vs Paraguay a case in point.
“Did the rules change, or did Collina, Infantino & FIFA just decide after opening game that they didn’t want World Cup to be ‘ruined’ by yellow/red cards?”
France will now face Morocco in the quarter-finals — a rematch of their semi-final clash at the 2022 World Cup which saw France claim a 2-0 win.
