At the end of their respective Round of 16 matches, the reactions from Argentina and France players could not be more different.
Kylian Mbappe, the talismanic striker and France captain, smiled and punched defiant fist-pumps as his team beat Paraguay 1-0 to move into the quarterfinal of the FIFA World Cup.
Two days later, defending champions Argentina had to dig themselves out of a massive 2-0 deficit to beat Egypt 3-2 in stoppage time to secure their spot in the final eight. At the end of that match, the captain Lionel Messi, who led the comeback, was in tears.
The top two ranked teams in the world and the 2022 finalists have been made to work much harder than expected. But they showed their style is not without substance.
Through the course of the competition, the vastly talented French team has played an attractive and attacking brand of football spearheaded by Mbappe, who has scored seven goals so far in this edition.
To quell that threat, gritty Paraguay employed a rather controversial style of physically aggressive football, with challenges often crossing that fine line between needling the opponent and glaring fouls. Paraguay, who had knocked out Germany in the Round of 32, finished with three yellow cards and no reds.
There was rage-baiting, diving at the slightest of touches, arms being swung at French players outside of the referee’s view.
For France, who had scored a tournament high 13 goals coming into the Round of 16 match, this was not quite the statement win. But this triumph, courtesy Mbappe’s 70th minute penalty, gave a signal of intent.
“We showed that we weren’t just a team that knew how to play offensive football. If we have to get our hands dirty, we’re going to get our hands dirty, we don’t have a problem with that,” Mbappe said to the host broadcaster after the ill-tempered match.
“(Paraguay) thought we were going to come playing in tuxedos, that we were just going to come and do beautiful moves, one-twos. We know how to play dirty football, too.”
Whenever given a chance though, the French did play attractive football.
Creating the symphony with Mbappe was France's reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele (who scored a hat-trick in the final group game against Norway). The trickery of Michael Olise and the dribbling prowess of Desire Doue, whose mazy run into the Paraguay box led to the penalty that Mbappe converted, also shone through.
While France are chasing a third consecutive final, 2022 champions Argentina are hoping to become only the third country to defend their title.
The start was promising, with Messi leading the charge. He has scored eight goals so far, but his team’s over-reliance is a chink in the armour.
The combative team has an impressive star cast in their forward line, with Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, Inter Milan skipper Lautaro Martinez, and Liverpool playmaker Alexis Mac Allister returning to help their country defend the title they played key roles in winning. But apart from Messi, Argentina’s attackers have so far failed to find that killer instinct in front of goal.
In the 14 goals Argentina has scored in the competition, Messi has been directly involved in 10 of them.
Even before they were given an almighty scare against Egypt, Argentina was taken the distance by debutants Cape Verde in the Round of 16. The holders eventually needed to rely on an own goal in the second half of extra time to progress with a 3-2 win.
Against Egypt however, the title holders had to rally from 0-2 down. Starting with Cristian Romero's strike in the 79th minute, Argentina scored thrice in 14 minutes to wipe out Egypt's lead and end their historic run.
That win saw Messi work a lot harder than his 39-year-old legs can afford on a regular basis. But he was willing to put in each and every yard that it took. And so did the rest of his teammates.
The France-Paraguay and Argentina-Egypt matches, however, were shrouded in refereeing controversy, with decisions conveniently favouring the South American teams. Egypt's disallowed second goal, in particular, has sparked outrage across the football world, reigniting debate over the discrimination against African teams at the World Cup.
However, the show goes on. World No.1 France and World No.2 Argentina, on the opposite ends of the draw, remain on course to meet each other in the final of the World Cup once again. It will be a tough journey to get to that point, but they have shown they have the appetite to fight.
Deepti Patwardhan is an independent sportswriter based in Mumbai.