Only by names, France had everything to gain against Sweden, and that’s exactly what they did, with a resounding victory included. The French gave no chance to the Nordics, defeating them with a convincing score (3-0), which could have been much more lopsided.
The match would start with a lot of parity, having a few approaches from both sides without danger, although with a bit more French presence. The first great opportunity would occur at the 19, when, after an unusual mistake by Lucas Bergvall in midfield, Michael Olise would make an excellent pass through the lines for Kylian Mbappé, who would go one-on-one with goalkeeper Jacob Zetterström, whom he would easily beat. However, the goal would be disallowed for a narrow offside by the Real Madrid player.
After the first cooling break, the French would start to increasingly breach their opponent's defense and accumulate several chances to take the lead. In this sense, the Nordic goalkeeper would be key, with some important saves that kept the score at 0, including one against Adrien Rabiot at the 30.
Another crucial player in maintaining the tie would be the post, which would prevent goals on three different occasions: a Mbappé attempt at 31, a scissor kick from Olise at 35, and, in the rebound resulting from the latter action, a powerful shot from Ousmané Dembélé that hit the crossbar.
Near the end of the first half, Zetterström would shine again with a save from a shot by Olise. However, from the corner generated from his clearance, France would reach the hard-fought first goal: after a great combination of passes, the ball would end up with Mbappé, who, after getting into the box and shaking off his markers, with a violent shot would break the net of the Swedish goalkeeper to declare the partial 1-0.
Although the intensity would drop a bit, "Les Blues" would increase their lead at the start of the second half. At 53, Aurélien Tchouaméni in the center circle would pass to Olise, who would assist a Bradley Barcola alone, who would leave Zetterström no chance to convert the 2-0.
As the minutes passed, Sweden would start to have the ball a bit more, but that would not prevent Didier Deschamps' team from extending the score. Soon after the second hydration break, Olise would deliver a precise assist of the match to Mbappé, who would score his second goal of the New Jersey afternoon without any problems.
At the end of the match, Mike Maignan would be called upon for the first and only time: at 88, after a series of rebounds, Viktor Gyökeres would find himself with the ball facing the goal, but the French goalkeeper would respond confidently to maintain the 3-0.
With this resounding victory, France advanced to the round of 16, where they will face Paraguay next Saturday July 4 at 14:00 (Argentina time) at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
