French soccer fans held their breath as France scraped through their second round clash with Paraguay thanks to the first World Cup finals golden goal extra time winner.

Defender Laurent Blanc eventually broke the deadlock six minutes from the end of extra time at the Felix Bollaert stadium in Lens on Sunday (June 28), just when it looked as though the fans would have to endure a nailbiting penalty shootout.

The goal, the first sudden death winner in World Cup finals history, triggered joyous scenes in streets and bars across the country.

Fans watching the game in a Paris cafe burst into cries of joy when Blanc struck to earn the hosts a quarter-final place against Italy at the Stade de France on Friday.

One fan said the best team had won, but it was pretty scary for a while.

The golden goal has been adopted by FIFA to reduce the number of penalty shoot-outs.The first scorer of a World Cup qualifying round golden goal was Masayuki Okada, who struck two minutes from the end of extra time to give Japan a 3-2 win in an Asian play-off with Iran last November.