Mbappe brace fires France into World Cup last 16
By Tosin Omojola
France eased into the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday night with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sweden, inspired by a brilliant brace from Kylian Mbappe.
The Real Madrid forward took his tally in the tournament to six goals, drawing level with Lionel Messi of Argentina, who will face Cape Verde in the knockout stage.
Mbappe is now just one goal behind Messi in the all-time World Cup scoring charts, with 18 goals to the Argentine’s 19. The 27-year-old also holds the record for the most goals scored in the tournament’s knockout stages, with 10.
Mbappe opened the scoring just before halftime in the 45th minute before Bradley Barcola doubled France’s advantage in the 53rd minute. Mbappe completed his brace in the 74th minute to seal an emphatic victory.
The win sends Didier Deschamps’ side into the Round of 16, where they will face Paraguay on Saturday.
Paraguay booked their place in the knockout stage 24 hours earlier after producing one of the tournament’s biggest upsets, eliminating Germany in a penalty shootout.
France dominated the contest from start to finish, underlining their status as one of the favourites to lift the World Cup trophy.
A crowd of 80,663 at New York City Stadium witnessed the impressive French display as Sweden struggled to cope with the attacking quality of Les Bleus.
