Mbappé, France Cruise Past Sweden 3-0 to Reach World Cup Round of 16

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — France looked every bit like a World Cup favorite Tuesday night.

After weathering an energetic opening from Sweden, Les Bleus seized control just before halftime and never looked back, rolling to a 3-0 victory at New York New Jersey Stadium to book a Round of 16 meeting with Paraguay.

The breakthrough came in the 45th minute when Kylian Mbappé finished a brilliantly worked set piece. Following a short corner, Ousmane Dembélé slipped the ball into Mbappé’s path, and the France captain calmly beat goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström to give Les Bleus a 1-0 lead moments before the interval.

That goal changed everything.

France wasted little time extending its advantage after halftime. In the 53rd minute, Bradley Barcola raced onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Michael Olise and rifled his finish into the top corner, doubling the lead and putting Sweden firmly on the back foot.

Mbappé delivered the knockout blow in the 74th minute.

Again, Olise unlocked the Swedish defense with a defense-splitting pass, and Mbappé timed his run to perfection before curling his finish beyond Zetterström for his second goal of the night and sixth of the tournament. The brace also moved the French superstar to 18 career World Cup goals, one behind the all-time record, while pulling him level in the Golden Boot race.

Although the final score suggested a comfortable evening, France had threatened long before Mbappé’s opener, striking the woodwork twice in the first half and consistently creating dangerous chances through Mbappé, Dembélé and Olise. Sweden generated a handful of early opportunities but struggled to match France’s pace, movement and attacking depth once the deadlock was broken.

The victory improved France to 4-0 at the tournament and reinforced its status as one of the favorites to lift the World Cup trophy. Didier Deschamps’ side has now scored 13 goals through four matches and will face surprise qualifier Paraguay, which stunned Germany on penalties, for a place in the quarterfinals.

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