France advances to the round of 16 – Mbappé surpasses Klose and closes in on Messi

The most spectacular moment of the first half, however, belonged to Michael Olise. In the 36th minute – other sources date the moment to the 35th minute – the 24-year-old fired a bicycle kick from about 15 meters at the edge of the penalty area, which also struck only the post. Sweden could not clear the ball, and Olise let fly on the turn – "Das vielleicht spektakulärste Nicht-Tor der WM-Geschichte," as the source wrote.

Post misfortune and first big chances

Shortly before the break, France struck. In the 45th minute (+3 added time), Olise and Ousmane Dembélé combined quickly from a short-corner routine. Dembélé played it across, Mbappé danced through the Swedish defense and finished composedly into the right corner from close range. "Tooor für Frankreich, 1:0 durch Kylian Mbappé," the live ticker commented. "Mbappé verschaffte sich mit einem Dribbling auf der rechten Seite Platz und traf mit einem abgeklärten Schuss ins rechte Eck."

Almost immediately, Sweden were handed a big chance to equalize: Elliot Stroud stood free in front of goal in stoppage time but squandered his effort woefully from a central position. "Schweden vergibt die ganz dicke Chance zum Ausgleich. ... Elliot Stroud aus neun Metern abschließen kann. ... Der Schwede trifft das Tor aus zentraler Position aber nicht," the match report read. So it was with a narrow but deserved lead for France that the teams headed to the dressing rooms – "Frankreich führt zur Halbzeit verdient mit 1:0 gegen Schweden. Die Skandinavier hielten 15 Minuten gut mit, jedoch spielten sich die Franzosen dann frei."

Coach Didier Deschamps, who had returned to the team after his mother's funeral and had missed the previous group-stage match against Norway, made four changes to the starting eleven compared to the last game, with Adrien Rabiot among those returning. Sweden coach Graham Potter had said before the match: "Wir müssen das Spiel unseres Lebens spielen" – but his team could not turn words into action.

Mbappé breaks the deadlock before the break

After the restart, it took only a good seven minutes before Bradley Barcola made it 2:0. The Paris Saint-Germain winger took an incisive pass from Olise in the 53rd minute and slotted home from about eight meters into the near corner. "Dieser steckt zauberhaft an Lindelöf vorbei zu Barcola durch," the source described the build-up. It was already Barcola's second goal of the tournament after his solo run in the 19th minute, which had finished well over the bar.

France now controlled the game comfortably. Down the right flank, Olise and Dembélé posed the Swedish left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson "vor praktisch unlösbare Aufgaben." In the 60th minute, Sweden's Viktor Gyökeres unsuccessfully appealed for a free kick after a duel with Upamecano and Saliba, when Upamecano's hand accidentally struck his face.

In the 62nd minute, Olise forced Sweden's goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström into a strong save with a long-range effort from about 20 meters in a slightly right-of-center position. Shortly afterwards, in the 64th and 66th minutes, Olise missed narrowly again – once he aimed just wide of the far post, and the second time Sweden defender Lagerbielke just managed to deflect his shot around the post with a sliding tackle.

Barcola and Olise increase the pressure

Sweden reacted in the 66th minute with a double substitution: Graham Potter brought on Taha Ali and Besfort Zeneli for Lucas Bergvall and Elliot Stroud. "Graham Potter nimmt seine ersten beiden Wechsel vor. Taha Ali und Besfort Zeneli sollen offensiv für neuen Wirbel sorgen," the live ticker noted. Sweden made further changes later – Svanberg and Nygren replaced Svensson and Ayari, among others.

Mbappé once again had the final word. In the 74th minute, he drove a counter-attack forward, found Olise, who in turn played it across to Mbappé – the Real Madrid striker finished composedly into the far corner. It was his second goal of the evening; his third and fourth attempts in this match had earlier gone begging. With the goal, he took his tournament tally to six and moved past Miroslav Klose on the all-time World Cup scoring list. "Doppeltorschütze Kylian Mbappé erzielt die WM-Treffer 17 und 18," the match report stated. Mbappé now sits on 18 World Cup goals, just one behind Lionel Messi, who is on 19.

"Im Achtelfinal trifft Frankreich auf Paraguay," the ticker noted early on. The South Americans had eliminated Germany in a penalty shootout on Monday evening and represent the next major hurdle for France on Saturday in Philadelphia. "Im Achtelfinal bekommen es die Franzosen mit Paraguay zu tun. Die Partie findet am Samstag um 23 Uhr Schweizer Zeit in Philadelphia statt," it read.

Mbappé bags a brace

Olise was once again the secret architect of France's play. With five assists, he tops the assist chart of this tournament, contributing two against Sweden. "Ein eigener Treffer blieb Bayern-Angreifer Olise trotz mehrerer guter Chancen verwehrt," the source wrote – the post hits in the 35th and 36th minutes, as well as the narrowly missed long-range efforts in the 62nd and 64th minutes, failed to produce a goal. At least in the 72nd and 73rd minutes, Zetterström made two more strong saves against Olise.

Sweden, for their part, looked harmless for long stretches. Alexander Isak had an inconspicuous chance in the opening phase and "Mitte der ersten Hälfte zwei ordentliche Chancen," as the report put it. Otherwise, France's "Weltklasse-Offensive" dictated proceedings, leaving Sweden barely able to muster dangerous efforts. "Frankreich fegt über Schweden hinweg," the live ticker headlined, casting the match in emphatic terms as a demonstration of power by the runners-up.

After 94 minutes, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie blew the final whistle. For France, the lineup was: Maignan; Koundé (75. Gusto), Upamecano, Saliba, Digne (78. T. Hernandez); Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Dembélé (75. Doué), Olise (85. Cherki), Barcola; Mbappé (85. Mateta). Sweden fielded: Zetterström; Lagerbielke, Lindelöf, Gudmundsson; Svensson (82. Svanberg), Bergvall (66. Zeneli), Ayari (82. Nygren), Stroud (66. Ali); Elanga; Gyökeres, Isak (89. Nilsson).

Outlook: Paraguay awaits on Saturday

With the win, France advanced comfortably to the round of 16 and kept all their title hopes alive. The World Cup final, in which the new world champion will be crowned, is scheduled for 19 July. Until then, Mbappé, Olise and Co. first face Paraguay – a side that has already shown with their penalty-shootout knockout of Germany that they must be taken seriously. Mbappé celebrated his third goal with a sprint to coach Didier Deschamps on the touchline, followed by his teammates – a gesture that also symbolized the coach's emotional return to the team.