Mbappe fires France into World Cup Round of 16 with brilliant brace

France secured their place in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a dominant 3-0 victory over Sweden, inspired by a superb two-goal performance from captain Kylian Mbappe.

Didier Deschamps’ men controlled proceedings throughout the contest and finally broke the deadlock on the stroke of halftime when Mbappe found the back of the net in the 45th minute to hand Les Bleus a deserved lead.

France continued to dictate play after the restart and doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute through Bradley Barcola, who calmly finished off a well-worked move to put Sweden under greater pressure.

Mbappe completed his brace in the 74th minute, putting the result beyond doubt and capping another impressive display from the French forward.

The brace saw the 26-year-old take his tally at the tournament to six goals, drawing level with Lionel Messi as the competition’s joint-leading scorer.

Mbappe also reached another remarkable milestone, scoring his 18th World Cup goal in just 18 appearances to become the second-highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history.

France’s commanding performance further underlined their status as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, with their attacking quality proving too much for Sweden.

Les Bleus will now shift their focus to the Round of 16 as they continue their pursuit of another World Cup crown.