Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France swept aside Sweden 3-0 in the World Cup round of 32 on Tuesday, maintaining their perfect record of four wins from four and setting up a last-16 meeting with Paraguay, Reuters reported.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 45th minute, cutting in from the left and driving a fierce shot inside the far post.
Michael Olise turned provider eight minutes into the second half, threading a pass through for Bradley Barcola, who fired into the top corner to double the lead.
Mbappe sealed the win in the 74th minute, racing on to another incisive Olise pass to beat the offside trap and curl a first-time effort beyond the keeper.
At the heart of it all was French captain and talisman Kylian Mbappe. From the start it had been clear he was a man on a mission.
Mbappe’s two goals lifted his World Cup finals tally to 18, one behind Lionel Messi on the all-time list. Remarkably, those goals have come in just 18 matches, with his double here taking him to six for the tournament.
By the final whistle Sweden looked less like beaten men, more like beaten-up men, after 90 minutes hauling themselves round the New York-New Jersey pitch trying to keep up with the precise French passing.
The temperature on the pitch felt even hotter than the 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) officially recorded in East Rutherford, but for Sweden it might as well have been the surface of the sun as they visibly wilted under a relentless French onslaught.
bd-pratidin/GR
