Kylian Mbappé scored twice and Michael Olise produced a masterclass as France eased into the World Cup last 16 with a dominant 3-0 victory over Sweden in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Mbappé opened the scoring just before half-time after France had twice struck the woodwork, before Bradley Barcola doubled the lead early in the second half from an Olise assist. Olise then teed up Mbappé for his second goal to complete an emphatic win in front of 80,663 fans at MetLife Stadium.
Victory sets up a last-16 meeting with Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday.
France controlled the contest from start to finish, dominating possession and creating a succession of chances against a Sweden side that struggled to gain a foothold.
Mbappé’s brace moved him level with Lionel Messi on six goals in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot.
The France captain now has 18 World Cup goals in his career, leaving him just one behind Messi’s overall tally of 19.
Mbappé celebrated his opening goal by embracing coach Didier Deschamps, who returned to the touchline after missing France’s final group match against Norway to attend his mother’s funeral.
Deschamps, who will step down after the tournament following 14 years in charge, remains on course to end his tenure with another deep World Cup run. The former captain led France to their first World Cup title in 1998 before guiding Les Bleus to a second triumph as coach in 2018.
France will again face Paraguay in the knockout stage, 28 years after Laurent Blanc’s famous golden goal secured a 1-0 victory in the last 16 of the 1998 tournament.
Olise shines
Olise was once again at the heart of France’s attacking brilliance alongside Mbappé, while Ousmane Dembélé repeatedly threatened and Barcola justified his selection ahead of Désiré Doué.
Sweden arrived with an impressive attacking trio of Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak and Anthony Elanga, but Graham Potter’s side rarely saw enough of the ball to trouble the French defence.
Having reached the tournament through the play-offs, Sweden’s run to the knockout stage nevertheless represented a respectable campaign.
France in complete control
France thought they had taken the lead after 20 minutes when Olise released Mbappé through on goal, only for a tight offside decision to rule out the finish.
The warning signs continued as Mbappé struck the post from Jules Koundé’s cross before Adrien Rabiot fired narrowly over.
Olise then came within inches of producing one of the goals of the tournament, crashing an overhead kick against the upright before Dembélé fired the rebound wide.
France finally made the breakthrough on the stroke of half-time.
After Jacob Widell Zetterström tipped an Olise effort behind, Dembélé and Olise combined cleverly from the resulting corner before Mbappé finished confidently.
The second goal arrived eight minutes after the restart when Olise threaded a sublime pass through Gustaf Lagerbielke’s legs for Barcola, who powered his finish beyond the goalkeeper.
Olise was denied when clean through but soon produced another exquisite assist, picking out Mbappé, who curled home his second goal in the 74th minute to seal France’s place in the last 16.
Les Bleus now head into their meeting with Paraguay full of confidence after another commanding display that reinforced their status among the tournament favourites.
