150 people from 50 countries become US citizens at Mount Vernon on America's 250th birthday

MOUNT VERNON, Va. (AP) — The people who were about to become United States citizens sat in folding chairs on George Washington's lawn at Mount Vernon on Saturday, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence.

The sun beat down and the well-dressed crowd was a flutter of paddle fans stamped with American flags. Their families clung to the shade of the trees on either side, where one woman had two American flags stuck through her ponytail.

“Well, good morning, everybody,” said Anne Neal Petri, the regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.

“Good morning!” an excited crowd returned.

“And Happy Birthday, United States of America!” exclaimed Petri.

There were 150 people from 50 globe-spanning countries sitting in front of the small stage as they prepared to be sworn in as U.S. citizens on the July Fourth holiday and America's 250th birthday. Among them was U.S. Marine Sgt. Diakaria Sangare from Guinea, who attended in his pressed Dress Blue uniform with three medals pinned to his left breast.

Sangare had served two deployments, and, like all assembled, had gone through the long citizenship process: The test, interviews, green cards and biometrics. Others in the crowd, it was said, came from countries bathed in violence. Some fled persecution.

After a speech about Washington, the crowd was asked to rise for the national anthem.

They did. Their hats came off and their hands covered their hearts. The paddle fans calmed.

The singer belted the words: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” — as Sangare held his right hand in a rigid salute, his face sober.

As the song concluded, the soon-to-be citizens clapped and returned to their seats, while another speaker asked them to stand and remain standing when their country was called.

“Albania.”

A woman in the front row with long black hair rose with a broad grin, a small U.S. flag in her hand.

“Bangladesh.”

A man in a black shirt stood. The Albanian woman, looking back, beamed at him.

It went on for 50 countries, through China and El Salvador and Iraq and Mongolia, as people stood, sometimes smiling, sometimes sedate.

At “Morocco,” a man in the back thrusts his fists in the air in support. A young boy looked up at him and then did the same, a little flag in his fist.

Then the crowd, with hands raised, recited an Oath of Allegiance, not so different from the oath Washington signed in 1778.

“Congratulations,” they were told. “You just became U.S. citizens.”

There was applause and laughter, then the Pledge of Allegiance. Sangare, his hand now over his heart, closed his eyes for a moment.

Nearby stood a tulip poplar tree, planted at Washington’s direction 250 years ago, that had lived through America's history.

The next speaker, historian Douglas Bradburn, pointed it out in his speech before the day's special guest.

“All the stories that are part of you, now become American stories,” said Bradburn. “When people ask me what are American people like, I now can talk about you, and your stories.”

“The second side of that is that, now, all America’s stories, and our history, are your stories. The father of your country is George Washington.”

The first president, it turned out, was the next speaker.

As he was introduced, the re-enactor stood by a massive draped American flag, a sword scabbard on his hip. Then he donned the stage, doffed his cap to the audience, and began to speak.

“Today the name of ‘American’ belongs to you every bit as much as it does to me,” he said. He spoke to their arduous journeys to this point and their histories, now merged with America.

“So, my fellow Americans, to you, I say simply: ‘Welcome home’.”

Afterward, Sangare, the U.S. Marine, posed for a portrait, hands clasped in front of him, holding the American flag paddle fan, his Marine cap slightly askew.

“I just became a United States citizen,” he said, his emotions pushing out in an earnest smile.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Diakaria Sangare, center, from Guinea, salutes the playing of the national anthem at a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen Anita Nawshin, from Bangladesh, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen Yosselin May, from Honduras, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen Sritanaya Kamireddy, from India, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen U.S. Air Force senior airman Stephen Kissi, from Ghana, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen Martha Flores de Martinez, from El Salvador, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen Tebid Munghey John-Paul, from Cameroon, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen Raina Pinto, from India, poses for a portrait following a naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New U.S. citizen and twice-deployed U.S. Marine Sgt. Diakaria Sangare, from Guinea, poses for a portrait following the naturalization ceremony on Independence Day at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kylian Mbappé laughed and smiled — and scored, of course — when Paraguay tried to bait him and his French teammates into fouls and provoke fights, as hot heads became a recurring theme during one of the steamiest World Cup games on record.

After the final whistle, Mbappé kept on walking and left Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill hanging as Gill extended his right hand in a show of sportsmanship.

In response, Gill thew the ball right at the No. 10 on Mbappé's jersey.

Mbappé got the last laugh as he scored his 19th career World Cup goal, and France survived stifling heat to beat Paraguay 1-0 on Saturday, sending Les Bleus into the quarterfinals for the fourth straight time.

“We knew what kind of match it was going to be,” Mbappé said in French. “We can also get our hands dirty, we know how to do it. We know how to play ugly football. Guess they were thinking we were going to show up in tuxedos, but we were ready.”

France advanced to play Morocco on Thursday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

With an extreme heat warning in effect throughout the match as temperatures hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), Mbappé finally broke through against a physical, defensive-minded Paraguay side when he converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute.

That was enough for Les Bleus, whose red, white and blue-clad fans looked plenty patriotic on July Fourth in the city where the United States was founded exactly 250 years earlier.

Mbappé was awarded the penalty when Diego Gomez was called for tripping after a video review. Then he stutter-stepped on his way to his 19th goal in 19 World Cup appearances, one behind career record holder Lionel Messi of Argentina. Mbappé and Messi each have seven goals in this tournament to top the Golden Boot race.

Mbappé won that award four years ago in Qatar, but Messi and Argentina beat France in the final.

Mbappé — who frequently trash-talked the Paraguayans in Spanish — is now the only player to score at least three goals in the knockout stage of three World Cups.

Mbappé botched a breakaway attempt in the second half, and Manu Koné had his top-corner shot knocked away by Gill after he was wiped out in the netting by Ousmane Dembélé only moments earlier.

Gill also stopped two strong attempts by Mbappé in second-half stoppage time.

“Without that penalty, we would have taken it to extra time,” Gill said.

For the criticism that hydration breaks have watered down the pace of play at the World Cup, they were never more needed for the players than in the midst of a miserable heat wave. Sprinklers showered the Kentucky bluegrass field during the breaks and at halftime.

More than in any of the five other World Cup games played before 68,000-plus fans at Lincoln Financial Field, spectators fled for the concourse at halftime, seeking shade and refuge from the sun.

Maybe they were looking for some action of any kind.

Les Bleus scored 13 goals in the first five games of the tournament but were stymied in the first half by a Paraguay team trying to turn the match into a rock fight. Tempers flared when Andrés Cubas took down Mbappé and the teams briefly pushed and shoved each other. Matías Galarza also threw his right elbow into Mbappé and sent him crashing to the grass.

Paraguay advanced by beating Germany in a penalty shootout on Monday, the biggest upset of this World Cup. But after a gritty effort by La Albirroja, it's France that's moving on.

After defeating Croatia for the 2018 title, France lost to Argentina on penalty kicks in the 2022 final. Les Bleus are 5-0 in this year’s tournament, outscoring opponents 14-2.

The city soaked in the moment as the 250th anniversary of American independence was celebrated. More fans honored America — draped in flags or wearing Uncle Sam hats as they tailgated in the parking lot — than at any of the other games in Philadelphia, and Idina Menzel, The Roots and DJ Jazzy Jeff all performed.

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot the opening goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) reacts during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) celebrates his team victory at the end of the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Paraguay's Miguel Almiron (10) controls the ball as France's Desire Doue falls during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) celebrates after scoring a goal from the penalty spot during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

France's Manu Kone, center, and Paraguay's Mauricio, on the ground, gesture during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

Fans react after France's Kylian Mbappe scored his side's opening goal against Paraguay during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) celebrates scoring his side's opening goal against Paraguay during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot the opening goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and France in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)