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France defeated Sweden 3-0 this Tuesday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and advanced to the round of 16 of the , with Kylian Mbappé as the standout, scoring a brace that makes him the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 18 goals.
The match, played in front of 80,663 spectators at full capacity according to FIFA, began with an early warning for the Swedes: in the 21st minute, the VAR disallowed a goal by Mbappé for offside after review. The Scandinavian team had a brief sigh of relief, as the Real Madrid forward soon found his way to the net.
Just before the end of the first half, in the 45th minute, Mbappé opened the scoring with a shot that left the Swedish goalkeeper with no chance. The 1-0 score at halftime already reflected French superiority, although the statistics from the first half suggested a greater margin of victory.
Eight minutes after the restart, Bradley Barcola extended the lead to 2-0, with an assist from Michael Olise. The Bayern Munich winger has accumulated five assists in the tournament, establishing himself as one of the top creators in this World Cup.
Mbappé sealed the score in the 74th minute with his second goal of the night, before being substituted by Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 85th minute. With that brace, the French captain raises his tally to 18 goals in World Cups, definitively surpassing the historic record held by Miroslav Klose, which he had matched with 16 goals during the group stage by scoring against Iraq on June 23.
The match statistics reflected total dominance by the French: 62% possession, 25 shots (12 on target) compared to just six from Sweden (two on target), and nine corners against one. France committed 13 fouls to Sweden's ten, and recorded three offsides compared to one by the opponent.
One of the standout plays of the match was the disallowed goal in the 21st minute: Mbappé celebrated before VAR intervened to detect the offside, which created tension in the stands of MetLife Stadium. Rather than being discouraged, Didier Deschamps' team responded with greater intensity and finished the first half with the score in their favor.
France arrived at this intersection as the strongest team in the tournament, the unbeaten leader of Group I with nine points, ten goals scored, and only two against, after defeating Senegal (3-1), Iraq, and Norway (4-1) in the group stage. The French squad, valued at 1.53 billion euros, is the most expensive in the tournament.
Sweden, which had qualified as the best third team from Group F with four points — after thrashing Tunisia 5-1, losing 1-5 to the Netherlands, and drawing 1-1 with Japan — could not overcome the difference in level and is eliminated from the 2026 World Cup. The Scandinavian team also arrived with notable injuries, including Dejan Kulusevski and Isak Hien.
In the round of 16, France will face Paraguay, a team led by Gustavo Alfaro that eliminated Germany in penalties (4-3) on Monday at the Gillette Stadium in Boston. The Paraguayans return to this stage for the first time since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when they reached the quarter-finals.
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