Source : the age
France began to dominate as their half went on and they finally took a 1-0 lead via Mbappe’s strike just before the break.
Les Bleus had 15 shots on goal, six on target and Mbappe had several of them including a goal ruled out for offside and a shot that hit the post.
But Sweden’s strength is their front half and they will continue to attack in this second half.
Anthony Elanga almost conjured a goal soon after Mbappe’s strike – the Manchester United attacker has looked dangerous when he has the ball in the right spots.
You can deny him for a while but Mbappe is a tenacious striker and he has found space in the box and crushed a shot into the top corner to take France to a 1-0 lead.
France made a lovely play from a corner, interchanging passes before Mbappe dribbled into space and struck it home.
He ran over to coach Didier Deschamps to celebrate, the coach had time away in recent days after the death of his mother.
Beautiful goal, beautiful moment.
France 1-0 Sweden after 44 minutes
Mbappe continues to threaten the Swedish goal, but he has fluffed a prime chance to open the scoring as his shot from inside the box cannoned into the post.
The French superstar was so confident it was going in that he had wheeled away to start celebrating, only to see the ball curl into the post.
Mbappe looked stunned, while Sweden’s defence is really under fire now as Adrien Rabiot in midfield and Bradley Barcola in attack for France have also had dangerous looking shots which missed the mark.
France 0-0 Sweden after 34 minutes.
France have awoken with Mbappe going through on goal and putting a goal away.
But his arm was just off-side, so the goal didn’t count.
Consider this a warning, Sweden.
France 0-0 Sweden after 20 minutes.
Sweden striker Alexander Izak has had the first shot on target, sadly he didn’t hit it with full power so it was easily saved by Mike Maignan in France’s goal.
Noticeably, there has already been six fouls called in the opening 10 minutes of play as both sides haven’t been very surgical with their tackles.
The referee has been very understanding so far, but I don’t expect that to last.
As predicted, Sweden are taking this game to France when they have the ball – with three forwards in the team, they aren’t camping out and waiting for penalties.
France 0-0 Sweden after 11 minutes.
Les Bleus and Sweden have completed their final warm-ups as we count down to the kickoff at around 7am AEST and they are now on the pitch.
One thing to watch today is the attacking power of both sides…we’ve seen Mbappe qualities through multiple world cups now and France remain favourites for this match and, in many eyes, for this title.
But Sweden are very, very dangerous up front, especially when they go with the attacking front three of Anthony Elanga, Viktor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak – all three play in the EPL and have had good moments in this WC.
One issue for this match is the pitch on Metlife Stadium which, in my view, has been pretty poor this tournament and hasn’t aided teams who want to pass the ball. Hopefully, it has been improved for this clash.
For those wondering why they call it New York/New Jersey Stadium, it is because they built it in East Rutherford, New Jersey which is just across the water from New York and is the home of NFL clubs New York Jets and New York Giants.
France coach Didier Deschamps has reshuffled his left flank for their round of 32 clash with Sweden today, handing full-back Lucas Digne and forward Bradley Barcola spots in the starting lineup.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Digne comes in for Theo Hernandez and Barcola starts in place of Paris St Germain teammate Desire Doue.
- William Saliba returns at centre back after being rested against Norway.
- Adrien Rabiot reclaims starting place in midfield alongside Aurelien Tchouameni as Manu Kone returns to the bench.
- Sweden’s Lucas Bergvall starts in midfield, with Victor Lindelof dropping back into central defence.
France: Mike Maignan, Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Lucas Digne, Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola, Kylian Mbappe (captain).
Sweden: Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Victor Lindelof (captain), Gabriel Gudmundsson, Daniel Svensson, Lucas Bergvall, Yasin Ayari, Elliot Stroud, Anthony Elanga, Viktor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak.
Reuters
Arlington: Erling Haaland shattered Ivory Coast’s World Cup hopes, netting an 86th-minute winner that sent Norway into the last 16 with a 2-1 victory at Dallas Stadium.
Haaland’s fifth goal of the tournament sealed Norway’s progression after Amad Diallo had cancelled out Antonio Nusa’s 39th-minute opener, setting up a mouth-watering clash with Brazil in New York on Sunday.
The African side had shaded the opening exchanges with Nicolas Pepe threatening down the right, while Ghislain Konan went closest to putting his team ahead, bursting into the area to drag a shot into the side-netting.
Yan Diomande picked out Pepe with a searching ball from the right only for the Villarreal man to mishit his shot, allowing the Norwegian defence to hack clear.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
After a day of high drama, close finishes and shock results yesterday, hopefully the round of 32 knockout clashes deliver again today.
Already today we’ve seen a late Erling Haaland goal give Norway a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast, putting the Scandinavians through to tantalising round of 16 clash against Brazil.
At 7am (AEST) it is one of the tournament favourites, France, up against Sweden in New Jersey and at 11am it is tournament co-host Mexico up against Ecuador at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
