Paraguay v France LIVE: Latest team news and updates from World Cup last-16 clash

What have you made of all the teams in the last 16 of this World Cup?

We’ve ranked every one of them and, unsurprisingly, France are top of the pile. But how does everyone stack up behind Les Bleus?

And here’s how Paraguay will line up this evening – Diego Gomez is back from suspension and Omar Alderete has recovered from his knee injury to feature as well.

Having the Sunderland man in defence is a huge boost.

It will likely be a 5-4-1 for Paraguay as they try to stop the French onslaught

Paraguay XI v France: Gill; Caceres, Velazquez, G Gomez, Alderete; Alonso, Cubas, D Gomez, Galarza, Almiron; Enciso

Here’s the French team for this evening. No real surprises in there – Mbappe, Olise, Barcola and Dembele all start in that ferocious forward line.

However, Aurelien Tchouameni is ruled out with a thigh injury, so Manu Kone comes into the midfield

France XI v Paraguay: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Kone, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Barcola, Mbappe

Right, we’re only a couple of minutes away from finding out the team news for this one.

Will either side have any surprises in store?

On the Boston training ground that has formed the studio for France’s “art”, to quote one insider, Kylian Mbappe and his orchestra have only really had one instruction. That is to “express themselves”, to do what “comes with instinct”.

If this sounds unusually romantic for a coach as pragmatic as Didier Deschamps, he offered up even more evocative words for the media, in speaking about that illustrious trio of Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele.

“They speak the same football.”

Typically with Deschamps, there is more edge to that than just nice phrasing.

And it’s partly why France have already had more to them than almost any other team at this World Cup, as well as most in modern history.

Read Miguel Delaney’s full analysis of France’s brilliance so far:

There was even more reason for Paraguay fans to celebrate the victory over Germany earlier this week after the country’s president Santiago Pena declared a national holiday following the triumph.

The South Americans confined the Germans to their first-ever defeat in a World Cup penalty shootout and Pena seized the moment.

The president also declared a public holiday last September after Paraguay returned to the World Cup for the first time since 2010 and he announced another one, for Tuesday, 30 June, after his country’s historic moment.

Posting on X, Pena said: “Paraguay never gives up! Public holiday, damn it!”

According to Paraguayan law, the executive branch can declare up to three additional public holidays per year.

We’ve mentioned the heat in Philly today, so Paraguay star Gustavo Caballero was doing the right thing by drinking plenty during the pitch walkaround a little earlier!

This evening’s clash looks set to become one of the tournament’s hottest, raising serious health concerns for players, tens of thousands of fans, and the wider region.

The fixture coincides with a severe heatwave gripping the eastern and central United States, where peak heat indexes are forecast to reach a dangerous 100 F to 115 F (37.78 C to 46.11 C), according to the National Weather Service. High overnight temperatures are expected to offer little respite, with records potentially being broken.

Concerns over extreme heat have intensified throughout the tournament, particularly after French players resorted to on-pitch sprinklers to cool down during their last-32 clash with Sweden in New Jersey, where temperatures hit 90 F (32.22 C).

Scientists have increasingly labelled Fifa’s heat safety guidelines as “inadequate” and “impossible to justify”, even for heat-acclimatised athletes, warning that spectators could face slower, less intense games.

The race for the golden boot at the World Cup is hurtling towards an epic contest during the knockout stage as Lionel Messi went back ahead of Kylian Mbappe at the top of the standings with Vinicius Jr and Erling Haaland also very much in the race.

The stars continue to dominate at this tournament, none more so than Messi after backing up a hat-trick against Algeria with a double against Austria ,before another arrived off the bench against Jordan and he inevitably scored again in their slender last-32 win over Cape Verde last night.

Not to be outdone, Mbappe has been in excellent scoring touch and a brace against Sweden took him to six goals, which is now one behind the Argentine icon.

Current Golden Boot standings:

1. Lionel Messi (Argentina), 7 goals

2. Kylian Mbappe (France), 6 goals (2 assists)

= 3. Erling Haaland (Norway), 5 goals

= 3. Harry Kane (England), 5 goals

5. Ousmane Dembele (France), 4 goals (2 assists)

= 6. Vinicius Jr (Brazil), 4 goals (1 assist)

= 6. Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain), 4 goals (1 assist)

= 6. Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), 4 goals (1 assist)

Germany suffered a brutal World Cup penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay to end the four-time world champions’ tournament in Boston.

After suffering from a controversial VAR call in extra time, to chalk off Jonathan Tah’s goal, which would have seen Julian Nagelsmann’s side go 2-1 in front, the last 32 tie went to penalties, with misses from Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Tah enough to succumb to a 4-3 shoot-out loss.

German football entered a stage of crisis thanks to Jose Canale’s decisive penalty, which secured underdogs Paraguay a memorable victory and sparked wild celebrations, as well as booking tonight’s last-16 tie with France.