Mbappe at the double as stylish France ease way into World Cup last 16

Kylian Mbappe was twice on target for France as they eased their way into the last 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sweden at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Wednesday, 1 July.

Download our Mozzart Sport App for more news

Mbappe, who with the goals tied Lionel Messi for the race to this edition’s Golden Boot, struck the net in either halves of a dominant performance from Les Bleus, who will now meet Paraguay in a last 16 matchup scheduled for Sunday, 5 July (0000 EAT) at Philadelphia Stadium.

The Real Madrid star was first to open the scoring for the pre-tournament favorites as he curled a delightful finish just before halftime, before Bradley Barcola made it two shortly after the break.

Having scored a leading ninth goal in the knockouts, Mbappe would not be stopped as he added a second in the 74th minute, feeding of an incisive pass from Michael Olise, who also shown in the game with two assists, to take his tally at this World Cup to five.

Haaland's late verdict kills die-hard Elephants

It might have taken France a quarter of an hour to get their first attempt on goal; when the freshly-installed Lucas Digne attempted a shot from distance, but once that was done, the incentive for the men in blue was clicked wide open, as they went on a journey to absolutely pepper the Swedish goal.

Having seen dangerman Alexander Isak test Mike Maignan inside the first two minutes, the onus now turned to the pre-game favorites, as they created chance-after-chance to take a valuable lead, and control of a tie many saw falling into their favour.

Following off that Digne strike, Mbappe had his own go from a distance in the 17th minute, and was a few moments later unfortunate to see his no-nonsense strike from the middle of the goal disallowed for a marginal offside.

Midnight bomb! Klopp ready to take charge of Germany after all

Adrien Rabiot would soon afterward sting the goalkeeper’s leg with an acute shot from the left by-line, before Mbappe did the unthinkable by smashing a post, this after being fed into space by a lovely cut-back from Jules Kounde.

Just five minutes after the half-hour mark, Olise almost left the whole stadium jaw-dropped, as he let out an acrobatic effort that kissed the base of the post, with Dembele shockingly firing the rebound over.

©AFP

By then, France had accumulated nine attempts on goal, and more came as Olise rifled two shots from distance; one that curled just wide, the other forcing Jacob Widell Zetterström to a low save that bore the opening goal from a corner.

Following a nice interplay by the quick-thinking Olise and Ousmane Dembele, skipper Mbappe was at hand to seize space inside the box, jinxing his way, before curling a delightful opener that took his tally in the World Cup knockouts to nine.

In a touch of class, the Real Madrid star ran straight at his head coach Didier Deschamps to celebrate the goal, offering joy to the man who had been forced out of camp in the previous week due to personal grief.

©AFP

A goal to the good at the half, the 2018 champions were not in the mood to letting up, and it took them just nine minutes to double their lead, when Barcola collected a fine pass from Olise - following a Sweden turnover - to lash high into the net, for what was his second goal of the tournament.

Olise, signifying his superiority in the game, should have added to the scoreline right at the hour-mark, when he forced Zetterström to a big save with a curling attempt, and might have been left wondering why he was still not on the scoresheet, when he dragged a wide-open shot wide just before the hydration-break, before dragging a shot from a quick-breakaway straight at the keeper.

Paraguay hero sold everything to save his son - then sent Germans home!

Any concern? Not at all, as the Bayern Munich man again conjured a delightful pass to Mbappe, to score his team’s third in the 74th minute, a goal that took him level with Messi on top of the 2026 World Cup scorers’ leaderboard.

For Olise, his assist was his fifth in the tournament, ranking highest in any World Cup finals.

With the tie secured, Sweden did have a slight window to register some attempts, but the job had already been done, and with some ease.

WORLD CUP - KNOCKOUT STAGE

Round of 32

Sunday

South Africa - Canada 1-0 (0-0)

/Eustaquio 90+2/

Monday

Brazil - Japan 2-1 (0-1)

/Casemiro 56, Martinelli 90+5 - Sano 29/

Germany - Paraguay 3-4 on penalties (0-1)

/Havertz 54 - Enciso 42/

Tuesday

Netherlands - Morocco 2-3 on penalties (1-1)

/Gakpo 72 - Diop 90+1/

Ivory Coast - Norway 1-2 (0-1)

/Diallo 74 - Nusa 39, Haaland 86/

France - Sweden 3-0 (1-0)

/Mbappe 45, 74 Barcola 53/

Wednesday

04.00: (2.25) Mexico (2.95) Ecuador (3.85)

19.00: (1.30) England (5.20) Dr Congo (11.0)

23.00: (2.15) Belgium (3.25) Senegal (3.75)

Thursday

03.00: (1.43) USA (4.60) B&H (8.50)

22.00: (1.32) Spain (5.25) Austria (10.0)

Friday

02.00: (1.95) Portugal (3.40) Croatia (4.10)

06.00: (1.95) Switzerland (3.45) Algeria (4.00)

21.00: (3.15) Australia (2.95) Egypt (2.55)

Saturday

01.00: (1.17) Argentina (7.50) Cape Verde (16.0)

04.30: (1.70) Colombia (3.60) Ghana (5.50)

***odds are subject to change***