Mbappe, France overwhelm Sweden, 3-0, in World Cup round of 32
· Yahoo Sports
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s safe to assume that at least one of the 80,663 fans in attendance at the Meadowlands witnessed their first soccer match Tuesday, an evening round of 32 match between France and Sweden.
They watched with no prior knowledge of the two teams, and no real understanding of what each star on Les Blues brought to the pitch.
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Yet, one thing was clear after 90 minutes of France’s dominating 3-0 knockout round opener: No. 10 in blue is an otherworldly talent, and his team will go deep into the World Cup as long as he continues to work his magic on the ball.
Kylian Mbappe — the superstar donning France’s No. 10 — was the best player on the pitch from the first minute to the 84th when he was subbed off to the roars of the French-heavy crowd here at the Meadowlands.
He carried his side to another victory to stay undefeated in the 2026 World Cup, advancing to a round of 16 match against Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Sweden was unable to create any magic as underdogs like Paraguay, who managed to defeat Germany in a penalty shootout on Monday.
Paraguay now deals with the burden of stopping Mbappe, who broke through in the 45th minute Tuesday to put his team up 1-0 following a series of close misses and saves.
The superstar received a pass from fellow star, and current Ballon d’Or holder, Ousmane Dembele, in the box, then featured his nifty skills on Sweden’s Viktor Gyökeres, a striker out of position and unequipped to stay in front of such a star’s attack.
Mbappe floored Gyökeres with stepovers before striking the ball past Swedish goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström.
It capped a first half in which France overwhelmed Sweden. The Swedes were lucky to be down just 1-0 at halftime while offering just three shots to France’s 15. The margin grew to 25-8 by the final whistle.
Sweden narrowly escaped conceding on several occasions in the early going: Mbappe’s would-be first goal was called off after being ruled offside in the 19th minute, Adrien Rabiot’s shot knocked off the far post in the 30th and Michael Olise nearly converted on a world-class bicycle kick that would’ve added to France’s World Cup lore.
The proverbial floodgates burst open to start the second half with a goal by Bradley Barcola, who started in place of Désiré Doué on the left flank.
Then, Mbappe struck again in the 74th minute to put France up 3-0.
The game was lopsided for most of the evening, with Sweden only putting up a few shots that put some pressure on France keeper Mike Maignan, including one from Liverpool man Alexander Isak.
But it wasn’t enough. And Tuesday’s elimination now stands as Sweden’s earliest World Cup exit.
For France, the win is the fourth of this World Cup.
They had no issues running through Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0) and Norway (4-1) — who rested most of their key players in the matchup — during group-stage play.
And they had no issues against Sweden — thanks to No. 10 Kylian Mbappe.