Mbappé closes – Kylian Mbappé scored twice as France thrashed Sweden 3-0 at MetLife Stadium, cutting the gap to Lionel Messi in the World Cup goal charts. The win moved Didier Deschamps’ side into the last 16, with Bradley Barcola scoring after the break and two assists from
France’s night in New Jersey had the feel of a sprint—fast, clinical, and impossible to ignore once it found its rhythm.
Kylian Mbappé struck twice as France beat Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday night, moving within one goal of Lionel Messi in the World Cup goal charts. It was a chase running in parallel to the one Messi has been living for weeks, and Mbappé made sure it wouldn’t stretch into next month without a fight.
For Didier Deschamps, the timing mattered even more. He was back on the touchline after the tragic death of his mother last week. and the mood inside the stadium shifted when the team started delivering. Mbappé marked his first by embracing Deschamps. a quick. unmistakable moment of comfort as Les Bleus eased forward into the last 16.
Bradley Barcola replaced Désiré Doue on the left side of Deschamps’ starting frontline, and he made the biggest possible argument for why he belonged there. Michael Olise also played a starring role, registering two assists to take his tournament tally to five.
The match carried a warning sign for Sweden almost immediately. France took nearly 20 minutes to find their rhythm in scorching temperatures at MetLife Stadium. but when they did. the threat was constant. Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres—his physical presence felt early—proved troublesome for William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano in the French backline. Sweden began with speed and intensity. pressing with urgency. and for a spell it looked like they might actually force the game of their lives.
But France’s attacking trio—Mbappé, Olise and Ousmane Dembélé—started to pry open gaps in the final third. Mbappé was denied an opener by the tightest of offside calls when he raced through unmarked and converted past Jacob Widell Zetterström shortly before the first-half hydration break. Adrien Rabiot was then stopped by the boot of the Swedish goalkeeper.
The breakthrough didn’t arrive with noise. It arrived in momentum. Within four astonishing minutes. both Mbappé and Olise struck the woodwork—Olise nearly producing a goal of the World Cup so far with a remarkable bicycle kick that was kept out by the post. Sweden, who seemed briefly capable of defending in numbers, began to retreat into deeper territory.
France’s pressure eventually turned into the opener in the 45th minute. After Ousmane Dembélé released Mbappé in the box. the forward found himself one-on-one in a position that looked like it had been drawn for him. Sweden had a fellow attacker in Gyokeres, but the speed mismatch was stark. Mbappé used a bewildering stepover and two delicate touches to create space. then curled the ball home from the edge of the six-yard box.
After that, the only uncertainty was how quickly Sweden’s challenge would collapse.
Sweden needed to produce the game of their lives after such a spirited start, but they faded fast after the interval. Barcola latched onto Olise’s pass and added a two-goal cushion shortly after the restart, a goal that effectively sealed Sweden’s fate before the scoreline had fully settled at 2-0.
France didn’t slow down when the result turned routine. Sweden’s ball loss near the halfway line handed France the next opening: Dembele’s interplay had already set the tone. and then Aurelien Tchouaméni picked up possession before finding Olise. who threaded a delightful pass to unleash the Paris Saint-Germain forward inside the area. Mbappé made no mistake from close range.
With 15 minutes to play and the match already hanging by a thread, Mbappé collected another outstanding Olise pass into the box and rifled home to seal victory. It was Mbappé’s 18th World Cup goal in as many matches.
As the final five minutes approached and the inevitable substitutions came. the MetLife crowd rose to its feet in awe and adulation when Mbappé and Olise were replaced. The chemistry between them—along with Dembele, and the interchanging Barcola and Doue—was difficult to shake. France’s front line, at this stage, looks like the most dangerous version Deschamps has had at the tournament.
Deschamps had named Rayan Cherki and Doue among his bench options for the night, and the tournament now has that familiar question hanging over every opponent: if France can start with this kind of control and still keep options like Cherki and Doue ready, what happens when they’re pushed?
The answer could arrive quickly. After the win, the next run of fixtures includes Paraguay and, likely, Morocco. Even potential semifinal opponents like Spain and Portugal were left looking at a France side that appears to be hitting its sharpest rhythm right now.
Mbappé’s mindset didn’t look like it was consumed by chasing numbers. The Real Madrid forward—often criticised for a so-called attitude problem—still found room to lift the focus to Deschamps after the off-field blow. The opening strike that moved him into second place among World Cup’s all-time goalscorers came with his captain’s personal tragedy still fresh: Deschamps had missed last week’s win over Norway due to the death of his mother.
France’s players didn’t treat the moment like a diversion. They turned it into fuel.
And while Messi’s Argentina story has carried the tournament’s loudest weight—Messi becoming the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer last week—the gap between the two eras is now thinning in public, game after game.
By the end of France’s 3-0 win over Sweden, Mbappé had turned that thinning into pressure. Messi might be the current king on the throne, but France’s heir is scoring at a pace that makes the crown feel less secure.
At the World Cup. there has never been an immediate rematch in the next round. and if France and Argentina continue to move through the knockout bracket together. the possibility of a repeat of their Qatar four years ago encounter is exactly the kind of storyline that seems to follow this competition. This time, though, it won’t just be about Messi’s record. It will be about whether Mbappé can keep the pursuit alive long enough to change who’s holding the trophy come July 19.
Kylian Mbappé Lionel Messi France Sweden World Cup MetLife Stadium Didier Deschamps Michael Olise Bradley Barcola Aurelien Tchouameni Ousmane Dembele Jacob Widell Zetterstrom William Saliba Dayot Upamecano