Goalless at the end of normal time, the second-round game was heading towards a penalty shoot-out when Blanc found himself unmarked seven metres out following a headed pass by David Trezeguet.

He drilled the ball past the inspirational Paraguayan captain Jose Luis Chilavert, raising the roof in the Felix Bollaert Stadium. Until Blanc struck, both sides had looked understandably nervy in the extra period, wary of the sudden-death element which ensured victory for Germany over the Czech Republic in the 1996 European Championship final.

Coach Aime Jacquet said his side had shown great presence of mind and he called it a logical victory. ``We should have settled it in the first half,'' he said. ``We were a bit clumsy and missed twoopportunities.''

The nearest France came was six minutes before half-time when Thierry Henry hit the far post with a fierce right-foot shot, but for a long time it was destined to be a day when France's old goal-scoring problems resurfaced with a vengeance.

France generally had the better chances, notably a free-kick by Youri Djorkaeff which hit the wall and forced a flying save from Chilavert, but will know they were lucky to survive a horrible fate themselves.

It was all a far cry from the relative smooth passage France enjoyed to the knock-out stages as the 100-1 outsiders employed unashamed defensive tactics to squeeze the life out of the hosts' ambitions.

France were hustled, barged and frustrated throughout a scrappy contest and, with Chilavert marshalling the opposition found it impossible to get through the crowd despite numerous chances.

Chilavert, booked for time-wasting as early as the 20th minute, had to look lively to finger-tip away a left-shot from Bernard Diomede but Djorkaeff andDiomede again were both unable to hit the target from good positions in the first-half.

Other than a couple of long-range attempted lobs, Paraguay created little before half-time to worry French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez on his 27th birthday.

However, they threatened a little more in the second when Carlos Gamarra headed wide and Francisco Arce sliced an attempted shot.