Are France the team to beat at the World Cup?
France were frightening on Tuesday night as they once again marked themselves out as the team to beat.
Two goals from Kylian Mbappe fired Les Bleus to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Sweden in the round of 32.
The striker moved clear of Miroslav Klose to go second on all-time list of leading World Cup scorers with 18 goals, just one behind Lionel Messi – who only broke the record himself earlier in the tournament. In the process he drew level with Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
Winning in ominous fashion for the rest of this summer’s hopefuls, France comfortably dispatched Graham Potter’s side in New Jersey to set up a last-16 tie against Paraguay on Saturday.
All of the star-studded French front four got in on the action, with Bradley Barcola notching up Les Bleus’ other goal, Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele providing one assist and Michael Olise getting two.
Having swept the two-time world champions ahead on the stroke of half-time, Mbappe turned the style dial to ten for his second and France’s third goal, beginning the move with a jaw-dropping backheel to Barcola before latching onto Olise’s through-ball and producing a near-identical finish to his opener.
And Gary Neville was almost lost for words about Mbappe’s extraordinary exploits.
Speaking on ITV, Neville remarked: "Patrick (Vieira) said a couple of shows ago I think that this was the Mbappe World Cup. I completely and utterly agree with him; he is a level that is just… He’s on the verge of greatness."
