Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola scored, Michael Olise celebrated as France beat Sweden 3-0 to reach the last 16.
Published June 30, 2026
Kylian Mbappé scored twice and Michael Oliseh was in brilliant form as France defeated Sweden 3-0 at the World Cup and set up a match against Paraguay in the last 16.
Mbappé made a brilliant move to break the deadlock just before half-time in Tuesday’s last-32 tie, which was watched by 80,663 people at the New York/New Jersey Stadium, with France already having two shots on target, one to Mbappe and one to Olise.
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Against a limited Swedish team, the French were on top from start to finish, completely dominating them in terms of possession and shots on goal.
Olise set up Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola’s second goal in the 53rd minute, before playing a superb pass to Mbappé to seal a convincing victory.
Mbappe’s goal moves him level with Lionel Messi with six goals in the All-Star Golden Boot race this World Cup.
The France captain has now scored 18 goals in total at the World Cup, one goal shy of Messi’s total of 19, and Mbappe, 27, will be chasing that record.
He celebrated his first goal by running up to coach Didier Deschamps, who missed France’s final group game against Norway to attend his mother’s funeral.
Deschamps will step down at the end of the tournament after 14 highly successful years at the helm.
For Deschamps, who captained the first French team to win the World Cup in 1998 and led them to glory in 2018, being eliminated in the last 32 would have been a disappointing start to the journey.
In 1998, France sought to win at home, beating Paraguay 1-0 in the last 16, with Laurent Blanc scoring a golden goal in extra time.
Les Bleus will face the South American side again in the last 16 in Philadelphia on Saturday.
France is fully expected to win and advance.
Mbappé and Oliseh were once again central figures, with Ousmane Dembele also showing flashes of talent, but Barcola was preferred to Desiree Douai as the fourth forward.
Sweden also has quality in attack, with the Premier League trio of Victor Gokeres, Alexander Isak and Anthony Elanga. However, they were unable to win the ball and create any chances, and Graham Potter’s side headed home.
But getting this far should be considered a success, as they only reached North America through the back door of the playoffs.
In Tuesday’s game, Oliseh hit Mbappe from the center in the 20th minute and the ball went into the net, but the celebrations ended when he was ruled offside.
However, that led to intense pressure from France, which ultimately led to their opening goal.
Their football was mesmerizing, with Mbappé hitting the post after Jules Kounde’s ball crossed the front of the goal, and Adrien Rabiot’s shot just narrowly going over the target.
Olise then hit the uprights with a breathtaking overhead bicycle kick, and Dembele curled the rebound wide.
The first goal came just after half-time, after Oliseh’s shot was parried away by Swedish goalkeeper Jakob Vider Zetterström.
Mbappé scored after Dembele and Olise combined for a corner kick, and he did the rest.
Sweden needed an interval to regain their composure, but eight minutes after the restart a magical Olise slipped through the legs of Gustav Lagerbjelke and passed to Barcola, who was in hot pursuit and conceded again.
Olise was unable to score cleanly through, but shortly afterwards provided a great assist for Mbappé to score again in the 74th minute.
France seems untouchable, but Paraguay will have a hard time living with them, even if the toughest challenges still remain.
