On a day when tournament favourites dropped like flies, France avoided the drama to secure their place in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 with a commanding 3-0 victory against Sweden. Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola delivered a masterful brace and a clinical strike that kept Didier Deschamps’ men’s dream of a third world title alive and well (that of a third title, at least when it comes to a penalty shootout curse that the European nations have been cursed with).
Les Bleus were a clinic in total football from the very first whistle. With 61% ball possession, the French midfield suffocated Sweden’s transition play. The attacking trident was relentless with 25 shots over 90 minutes, 13 of which found the Swedish goalkeeper. France could have scored even more when Mbappe slotted the ball into the net, only for the assistant referee to rule it a marginal offside. Shortly after, the woodwork came to Sweden’s rescue twice: first denying Mbappe from a tight angle and then preventing Michael Olise, who was almost to win a goal-of-the-tournament with a stunning overhead kick.
Match Identity Metrics
Ball Possession: France 61% | Sweden 39%
Total Shots (On Target): France 25 (13) | Sweden 6 (2)
Historical Note: It was the first time France and Sweden had ever met in men’s FIFA World Cup history.
Mbappe Distances the Golden Boot Pack. The breakthrough came early in the second half. In the 53rd minute, the young rising star Bradley Barcola showed great composure to double France’s attacking threat with his second goal of this World Cup campaign. Sweden tried to respond but their erratic form— they finished third in Group F with a 5-1 win over Tunisia, a 5-1 loss to the Netherlands and a 1-1 draw with Japan— was no match for the French backline.
But the night belonged to the most dominant player in France. Kylian Mbappe won the game at the 74th minute and scored his third brace of this tournament with a brilliant lethal finish. Mbappe is a 27-year-old with the captain’s armband and as a central striker without defensive responsibilities, he is playing with such a frightening freedom. With this brace he is now the only player in the Golden Boot race on 6 goals and 2 assists for the season.
Banishing the ghosts of Qatar. France had a dominant victory less than 24 hours before they were going to meet their prospective Round of 16 opponent Germany in a chaotic penalty shootout. The Round of 32 has been a graveyard for tournament heavyweights; Germany and the Netherlands packed their bags after shootouts against Paraguay and Morocco, while Brazil was able to survive extra time in Japan with a late winner against Japan.
For France, the first time in 1998 they won their group games for the first time and against heavyweights Argentina and Mexico was a statement. But the knockout rounds are where legacies are cemented. The French generation is so talented and this generation has the potential for a football dynasty yet hasn’t been able to get a lot of recent big wins. They’re haunted by the ghost of the 2022 final in Qatar, where Mbappe’s historic hat-trick still ended in heartbreak against Argentina.
As Didier Deschamps prepares for what is widely believed to be his international swansong, his team is hungry, disciplined and ready to get the job done. If Mbappe can continue that golden touch, a third star on the French crest will not look like a dream but inevitable.
