On the night of Wednesday, July 1, the match of 1/16 finals of the 2026 World Cup took place, in which the national teams of France and Sweden competed.
Didier Deschamps' side barely felt the presence of their opponents on the way to the next stage of the knockout stages, having won a powerful 3:0.
The French completely outplayed their opponent, leaving no doubt about the future winner of the clash. They controlled the game from the very beginning, although the scoring was opened just before the break. However, in the middle of the half the ball was already in the goal of the Swedish team: Kylian Mbappe went one on one with the goalkeeper and completed his breakthrough with an accurate shot, but the goal was canceled due to offside.
The Swedish team saved themselves from conceding goals thanks to either goalkeeper Jakob Zetterstrom, or the frame of the goal, or inaccurate shots from their opponents. At one point, an impressive overhead shot from Michael Olise hit the upright, and after finishing off from Ousmane Dembele, the ball went past the left corner. The French continued to attack and were finally able to open the scoring in the final seconds of the first half.. After a corner, Mbappe received the ball on the left edge of the penalty area, went around the defender and fired under the far post.
In the second half of the game, Les Bleu managed to quickly increase their advantage. In the 53rd minute, Aurelien Tchouameni intercepted the ball in the center of the field, passed it to Olis, who, throwing the ball between the legs of a defender, set up Bradley Barcol to shoot.
After that, Olise himself was unable to convert several chances, but soon scored his second assist, and Mbappe chalked up a brace. The winger left the Swedes' defense idle with a through ball, and the striker jumped out from under the defenders on the left in the penalty area and fired into the far corner, increasing the lead in the score.
Mbappe has already scored six goals in the current world championship, equaling current leader Lionel Messi.
Also, the Frenchman beat Miroslav Klose by two goals in the overall ranking of top scorers at the World Championships, becoming a clear second with 18 goals.. Messi has one more goal so far.
France's next opponent in the 1/8 finals of the 2026 World Cup will be Paraguay, which previously sensationally beat Germany.
Match statistics France - Sweden 1/16 finals of the 2026 World Cup France - Sweden 3:0 Goals: Mbappe, 45, 74, Barcola, 53 New on Telegram and WhatsApp. Subscribe to our channels https://t. me/korrespondentnet and WhatsApp.