Mbappe brace fires France into last 16

France marched into the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 with a commanding 3-0 victory over Sweden at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Wednesday, setting up a last-16 clash against Paraguay.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice and Bradley Barcola added the other goal as Didier Deschamps' side dominated from start to finish, with Michael Olise orchestrating much of the attacking play.

Sweden created the first opening inside three minutes when Viktor Gyokeres teed up Alexander Isak, but the striker's effort was comfortably gathered by Mike Maignan.

France quickly took control of possession and threatened through Lucas Digne, whose long-range drive forced Jacob Zetterstrom into a low save after 15 minutes.

Mbappe tested Zetterstrom from distance before Barcola burst into the area but fired over after beating his marker.

France thought they had taken the lead in the 20th minute when Mbappe raced through and finished confidently, only for the offside flag to cut short the celebrations after a brief VAR review.

The French pressure continued as Jules Kounde's cutback found Mbappe, whose close-range effort struck the post before rebounding off Victor Lindelof and away from danger.

Olise nearly produced a spectacular opener five minutes before the break with an overhead kick that hit the post. The loose ball fell to Ousmane Dembele, whose curling effort drifted wide.

France finally broke through in first-half stoppage time from a cleverly worked short corner.

Dembele found Mbappe in the left channel, and the captain cut inside Gyokeres before rifling a low finish into the bottom-right corner to give France a deserved 1-0 lead.

France doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute through Barcola after another incisive move.

Aurelien Tchouameni released Olise, who drove towards the penalty area before threading a pass through the legs of Carl Starfelt's replacement, Lagerbielke. Barcola timed his run perfectly and finished clinically beyond Zetterstrom.

Olise continued to torment Sweden, forcing another fine save from Zetterstrom with a long-range effort before setting up Kounde, whose shot was comfortably held.

Sweden's best attacking spell produced only a Bergvall header that drifted wide from a corner as France remained firmly in control.

Mbappe sealed the result in the 74th minute with his second goal of the afternoon.

The forward exchanged passes with Olise, who returned a perfectly weighted through ball. Mbappe timed his run before bending a composed finish into the bottom corner for his fifth goal of the tournament.

With the goal, Mbappe upped his tally of goals in this World Cup to six, equalling Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the top of the highest scorer’s list.

Deschamps withdrew Mbappe and Olise to a standing ovation 10 minutes from time, introducing Rayan Cherki and Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Barcola almost added a fourth before Zetterstrom denied him at the near post, while Mateta fired over from Doue's cross late on.

Sweden finally forced Maignan into meaningful action in the 89th minute when Gyokeres created space on the edge of the area, but the French goalkeeper dived to his left to preserve the clean sheet.

France comfortably saw out stoppage time to secure their place in the Round of 16, where they will face Paraguay, who knocked out Germany.