FIFA WC: Mbappe closes in on Messi as France breeze past Sweden into last-16

New Jersey, July 1 (IANS) Mbappe showed his class once again with a brace as France breeze past Sweden 3-0 into the last 16. Bradley Barcola was also on target as Les Bleus continued their perfect start to FIFA World Cup 2026.

In the history of the World Cup, France is the first nation to play five consecutive matches, scoring at least three goals in each game.

Mbappe moved into outright second place in the FIFA World Cup all-time leading scorer charts. He struck twice to take his World Cup tally to 18 goals, now two clear of Miroslav Klose and only one behind Lionel Messi, with further movement between the leading duo almost certain in the coming days.

Didier Deschamps’ side knocked on the door for most of the first half but only broke it down when Mbappe deployed dancing feet inside the box and rifled into the corner.

Any hopes of a second-half Sweden comeback were quickly extinguished. String-puller-in-chief Michael Olise threaded the ball through for Bradley Barcola to batter home a second. Olise latter slipped his captain through with a delicate pass which Mbappe finished with aplomb to move on to record 10 knockout-stage goals.

“A lot of pride and a lot of emotion. Before this match, we saw in the other Round of 32 games that no match was easy, ours included, even though we had a bit of a cushion. We could have been more efficient in the first half, but we have to appreciate what we achieved,” said Deschamps.

France will be playing in the round of 16 for the seventh time (after 1986, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022). Only Brazil (11) and Argentina (5 before their round of 32 match) have a longer streak of consecutive appearances in this round than Les Bleus (4). They will now take on Paraguay in Philadelphia on July 5, as they eye a third straight final.

“There’s another match in four days, and that’s what we’re here for. We’re going to savour what we did today without looking too far ahead, otherwise we’ll quickly be brought back down to earth. We have to maintain the same focus, the same determination for the next stage against Paraguay, a great South American nation, very tenacious and talented. They’re not here by chance and have some good players. We’re going to take the time to savor this before preparing for this next stage,” he added.

–IANS

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