France beat Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday as Kylian Mbappé scored twice and Michael Olise supplied two assists at MetLife Stadium. Les Bleus reach the round of 16, where they meet Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday.
France beat Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday as Kylian Mbappé scored twice and Michael Olise supplied two assists at MetLife Stadium. Les Bleus reach the round of 16, where they meet Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday.
France controlled the tie from the whistle, dominating possession and hitting the woodwork twice before the interval, once through Mbappé and once through Olise's acrobatic overhead effort.
Mbappé had the ball in the net on 20 minutes, only for the offside flag to cut the celebration short. The deadlock broke on the stroke of half-time: Dembélé and Olise combined from a short corner to release Mbappé, who cut inside and finished past Jacob Widell Zetterström. Olise then threaded Barcola clear for the second on 53 minutes, before splitting the Swedish backline again to set up Mbappé's clinical third on 74. Zetterström made nine saves in a losing effort.
Thierry Henry, who coached Olise with France's Under-21s, singled out the 24-year-old. "What he does off the ball is second to none. Because people always stay on what a guy does on the ball, usually, when you’re that kind of guy, technical, you forget about your defensive duty. He doesn’t, he thinks about the game, the way he goes about the game, Michael is a freak"
Zlatan Ibrahimovic reflected on Olise's first-half bicycle kick that struck the post. "If he would've scored there, it would have been the goal of the tournament," he said. Owen Hargreaves was also struck by the front line, saying: "Mbappe and Olise were absolutely outrageous."
Mbappé's brace moved him to nine goals across nine World Cup knockout matches, the most by any player in that phase. He had been level with Leônidas da Silva and Ronaldo on eight. The France captain has 18 World Cup goals overall, one short of Lionel Messi's 19, and sits level with the Argentine on six for this edition's Golden Boot race.
Didier Deschamps recorded his 17th World Cup win as a coach, breaking a tie with Helmut Schön. He returned to the bench having missed the Norway game to travel home for his mother's funeral. Mbappé ran to embrace him after the opening goal.
The 3-0 scoreline was France's biggest knockout win since they beat Brazil in the 1998 final. Deschamps will step down after the tournament, ending a 14-year spell in charge.
Sweden, who reached North America through the playoffs, managed only two efforts on target and are eliminated. France, playing a fluid 4-2-3-1, registered 25 shots and 61% possession, with Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni controlling midfield at 91% passing accuracy.
France now face Paraguay in the round of 16 on Saturday in Philadelphia. The South Americans knocked out Germany on penalties. France beat Paraguay at the same stage in 1998, when Laurent Blanc scored a golden goal in extra time.
