France 3-0 Sweden: Mbappé shines to send Deschamps’ side through | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappe was at the double to move within one goal of Lionel Messi’s all-time World Cup scoring record as France cruised past Sweden 3-0 and into the round of 16.

France had knocked on the door throughout the first half, whilst Sweden created very little. Mbappe had one ruled out for offside, but he did not have to wait long before he got his goal.

Sweden were simply outclassed and were not given an inch by a fantastic French side. With every attack Les Bleus looked like adding another, and just eight minutes into the second half they did. Bradley Barcola this time as Michael Olise played the architect role sliding him in.

Olise was at it again soon after, and this time it was for his captain, Mbappe. A fantastic brace for Mbappe as they cruised through to the round of 16 where they will face Paraguay.

As it happened

It was France’s Bradley Barcola who had the first chance of the game. He dropped the shoulder on the Swedish defence to create the opening for his shot. He gets this all wrong however and sends it soaring over the crossbar.

Mere moments later Kylian Mbappe thought he had the opener. He played in between the Swedish centre-backs, and the ball was slipped through to him. Initially the flag stayed down and Mbappe finished the one-on-one, but it was immediately raised thereafter.

Mbappe should have had France’s opener just after the half hour mark, but he rattled the post. A brilliant piece of play down the right-hand side allowed Jules Koundé to pull it back to the Real Madrid star but he could not provide the finish on this occasion.

Michael Olise was next to come close as his acrobatic effort crashed off the post. Ousmane Dembélé followed it in but could only fire over the crossbar.

France had knocked on the door throughout the first half, and who else but Kylian Mbappe to open the scoring. A quick short corner routine sees Dembélé play it into Olise who finds Mbappe.

France’s all-time leading goalscorer feinted to go down the line before cutting inside and curling his effort into the far post.

France doubled their lead shortly after half time. A beautifully threaded ball by Olise nutmegged a Swedish defender and went through to Barcola. He takes one touch before burying the chance to create some daylight for Les Bleus.

Immediately after the hydration break France found themselves in behind once again. This time Mbappe was the creator as he broke away with pace before sliding it to Olise. The Bayern Munich man was wide open and looked to add a third, but Jacob Zetterström does well to make the save.

They did not have to wait too long before a third was added. It was the reverse of the previous chance, as Olise played a wonderful ball inside the Swedish fullback and Mbappe applies his trademark finish curling it past Zetterström.

Sweden got their best chance of the game with two minutes left to play. Viktor Gyökeres with the opportunity. The ball dropped to him just inside the 18-yard box but he could not apply the finish to pull one back for Sweden.

France Analysis: Les Bleus ruthless in attack

After seeing how Germany failed to beat Paraguay prior to this match, the French played with much more intensity and direction. They looked threatening with every single attack. It is safe to say their strongest attribute as a team is when they are attacking opposition.

France committed men forward and instead of overplaying they were not afraid to take shots on from all areas. They are hyperaware of the quality they possess.

In the first half alone, France had countless opportunities. They took 15 shots and, 6 of which were on target and 7 of them were from outside the area.

To use the Germans as an example again they mustered just 5 shots in their first half against Paraguay and did not register a shot on target.

The way Les Bleus play is not easy though and they are only able to do so due to the world class players they possess. Not every top nation would be capable of playing the same way.

The first touch of their forwards is consistently exceptional. This allows them to create space when they are being closed down at speed.

Mbappe is an expert at doing so, and often he will take one touch or make one feint to create the opportunity to shoot. His opening goal displayed this perfectly, as he appears to cut towards the byline but instead cuts inside where there is now space for him to let fly.

Not only are they good at creating their own space but they are fantastic at breaking the lines of play. Michael Olise for France’s third displayed this, as he threaded the ball through the eye of the needle and in behind for Mbappe to finish. They are capable of playing passes that split defences wide open.

Last years finalists have now scored more goals than any other team in the tournament and it is down to how direct they are in their approach.

However, it will be interesting to see if they are capable of playing this style against a team who can peg them back. As Les Bleus commit so many men forward, they often leave gaps that top opposition could potentially expose.

The question will be whether they can still commit as many men forward when they play a team who also possess world class quality all over the pitch and can be dangerous on the counter.

France will meet Paraguay in the next round, and as previously stated they manged to hold Germany level and take it to penalties which they went onto win.

If France are to avoid falling victim to the low block they must continue to play with their merciless style. There will be less space to break the lines due to the depth of the Paraguay defensive line.

Les Bleus may have to lean on some of their superstar fire power to progress, but they will certainly go into the next round as strong favourites after such a statement performance

Sweden Analysis: A step too far for Potter’s side

Sweden set up with two banks of four to defend against France and then Alexsander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres were used to hold the ball up when Sweden did win possession back.

Initially this was somewhat working for Sweden as their front two played off each other well. One held the ball up and the other made a run in behind. Gyökeres was winning fouls for his side high up the pitch which provided Sweden with a chance to get a ball into the box.

However, Sweden failed to create any sort of opportunities throughout the match and as the first half went on, they dropped further and further back.

This meant they got less and less opportunities to get forward. Sweden have a very good strike force with Isak, Gyökeres, and Anthony Elanga but they failed to get them into the game.

It was not easy for them to against such good opposition who possessed such dangerous firepower, but Sweden perhaps were too cautious and should have tried to peg the French back instead of allowing them to build attack after attack.

Sweden struggled to defend against the French attack, and they will not be the last due to the talent they possess. However, Sweden often committed themselves too often allowing France to expose the gaps left behind.

The feints used by the French were very effective but perhaps Sweden were too naïve and fell into the trap of committing themselves too often.

Sweden will be disappointed to go out so early especially whilst possessing two of the Premier League’s top strikers, but they go out knowing they lost to a top side who were on fine form on the day.

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France – Sweden Live Score