Mbappe Moves Level With Messi As France Thr…

(Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

France cruised to the Last 16 of the FIFA World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Sweden in New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Fixture: France v Sweden
Score: 3-0
Goalscorers: Mbappe (45′, 75′), Barcola (53′)

The French were one of three teams to have won all three group stage encounters at the World Cup, as coach Didier Deschamps recalled Bradley Barcola, Adrien Rabiot, Lucas Digne and William Saliba following their big win over Norway last weekend.

Deschamps’ charges have been ruthless in the competition so far with Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele entering the clash with four goals each, two behind Golden Boot leader Lionel Messi.

Sweden were unsurprisingly happy to sit back and defend while using striker Viktor Gyokeres as their focal point in the attack to relieve pressure, however they were nearly caught out after 20 minutes when Mbappe was sent through on goal and slotted home, but the celebrations were cut short due to an offside.

It was one-way traffic for most of the first period but France were unlucky not to have gone ahead after both Mbappe and Michael Olise were denied by the upright, with the latter missing out on what could have been a potential Goal of the tournament with his bicycle kick.

The French eventually got their reward on the stroke of halftime when Olise and Dembele combined to play in Mbappe, who skipped past one challenge in the box before firing into the far corner for his fifth goal of the tournament.

There were no signs of France taking their foot off the pedal in the second period as Olise continued to be the team’s biggest source of creativity as he bagged his fourth assist of the tournament to play in Barcola, who cut onto his right foot before rifling the ball into the back of the net.

The third goal did arrive with 15 minutes left on the clock in similar fashion to the second goal when Olise delightfully played in Mbappe, who took the ball in his stride before curling one beyond goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom to grab his sixth goal, moving level with Messi in the golden boot race.

Key Performers:

It was Mbappe and Olise show from the onset against Sweden. The French duo linked up superbly on multiple occasions and caused the Swedes all sorts of problems in and around the 18-yard area.

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