France winger Bradley Barcola said he had never 'played a match like this before' in terms of roughness, after France's 1-0 win over Paraguay in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Barcola said in the mixed zone after the match: 'I have never played a match like this before, with so many hits, hidden hits, and pushes from behind. It was complicated, but we won, so we will enjoy it.' His teammate, defender William Saliba, added: 'It wasn't easy, but we knew what to expect. They gave us nothing, went in hard, and tried to take us out of the game. We stayed focused, kept a clean sheet, and managed to score at the end of the match.'

Despite the many fouls committed by the Paraguay players, who were packed in their own half, the French complained that the Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev did not show any yellow cards to their opponents. The Arsenal player continued: 'The referee could have shown some yellow cards to the opposing team; perhaps that would have calmed things down a bit. There was tension, but we showed that we would not allow it.'

Barcola, like the rest of the French attack, also suffered on the left flank. He received the first yellow card of the match for a foul on Juan Cáceres. He explained: 'It was difficult because afterwards I had to be careful in defense. All the hits I received, I had to not react and not get drawn into that style. Anyway, it was a good experience.' He then praised his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Désiré Doué, who replaced him and managed to win the penalty that gave France the winning goal minutes after coming on.

He concluded: 'He made a very good entry, added his technical touch, and thanks to him we got the penalty. I am very happy for him and very proud of him. I knew he would bring energy to our play, and that's what he did.'