FIFA World Cup 2026: France has confirmed its place in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 by defeating Sweden 3-0. Kylian Mbappe once again played brilliantly and scored two goals, while Bradley Barkola also scored. With this win, France continued their impressive winning streak in the tournament. France has become the first team in World Cup history to score at least three goals in five consecutive matches.

By scoring two goals in this match, Mbappe has taken his total number of goals in the World Cup to 18. He has overtaken Germany’s Miroslav Klose to become second in the list of highest goalscorers in the World Cup. Now only Lionel Messi is ahead of him, who has 19 goals in his name.

Mbappé’s brilliant footwork

France created several chances in the first half but struggled to score against Sweden’s strong defence. Ultimately, Mbappe showed excellent footwork and gave his team the lead with a superb shot from inside the penalty box.

France took a strong hold on the match at the beginning of the second half. Michael Olise made a brilliant pass for Bradley Barkola, who converted the goal. Shortly afterwards, Olise provided another excellent pass to Mbappé and the French captain brilliantly scored his second goal. This was also Mbappe’s 10th goal in World Cup knockout matches.

The team showed a great game

After the match, France manager Didier Deschamps said, ‘We are proud of our performance and this victory is very special for us. It was clear from the other matches of the Round of 32 that no match here is easy. We could have taken better advantage of the opportunities we got in the first half, but overall the team played brilliantly and deserved the win.”

France reached World Cup pre-quarterfinals for the 7th time

France has reached the pre-quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup for the seventh time. Previously, the team had reached this stage in 1986, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Only Brazil is ahead of France in terms of reaching the Round of 16 consecutively (four consecutive times). They will now face Paraguay on July 5 in Philadelphia. France will enter the field with the aim of reaching the World Cup final for the third consecutive time.

Deschamps said, ‘Our next match is after four days, and now our entire focus will be on that. We will definitely enjoy today’s victory, but will not think too far ahead. Paraguay is a very strong and fighting team from South America. They have many talented players and they have not reached this far by chance. Therefore, we have to enter the next match with the same concentration and determination.”