France Dismantles Sweden with Mbappé's Brilliance
Didier Deschamps saw the clock hit 85 minutes, saw Sweden still reeling, and chose that moment to offer his own tribute. Kylian Mbappé’s number went up, Michael Olise’s too. As Mbappé jogged towards the touchline, Deschamps stepped forward, grinned, opened his palms and bowed. Not to the crowd. To his No 10.
France were 3-0 up. They felt several goals better than that.
This was a demolition dressed as a last‑32 tie, the kind of performance that makes a World Cup stop and stare. Sweden were not merely beaten; they were spun around, disoriented, left with that dizzy helplessness that comes when every French attack seems to arrive at twice the speed of your own thoughts.
Mbappé scored twice, at 45 and 74 minutes, and could have walked off with the match ball and a small museum of highlights. Olise, gliding and scheming from the right, supplied two assists and almost stole the show with an outrageous overhead kick that crashed off the post. He hit the woodwork; Mbappé hit the woodwork. Sweden hit the limit of their capabilities.
Bradley Barcola added the other goal, on 53 minutes, but this was about the relentlessness of the French front line. The blue shirts came in waves, angles and overloads appearing where a second earlier there had been nothing. Sweden manager Graham Potter admitted his side would not have won “even if they had been perfect”. On this evidence, perfection might only have narrowed the margin.
France now carry the weight of history as easily as Mbappé carries the ball. Performances like this invite comparison with Brazil – the ruthless champions of 1970 or the bewitching, doomed artists of 1982. The difference will be written in how they handle the later storms of this tournament, but the warning has been sent.
Mexico wake the Azteca
If France supplied the artistry, Mexico brought the electricity – literally delayed, then unleashed.
Their late‑night tie with Ecuador kicked off an hour behind schedule after the threat of electrical storms around the Azteca. When the players finally emerged, it was Ecuador who were struck. The stadium crackled, and so did Mexico.
Gilberto Mora, a teenage breakout star, played with the fearlessness of someone who has not yet learned to be intimidated by a World Cup knockout game in one of football’s great cathedrals. Mexico tore into Ecuador, scoring twice before the interval through Julián Quiñones on 22 minutes and Raúl Jiménez on 31.
The scoreline read 2-0. The feeling in the stadium was of something heavier, a burden finally lifted. Mexico had not won a World Cup knockout match since 1986, the last time they hosted the tournament. That drought ended under the floodlights, with the noise of the Azteca rolling down on Ecuador like a physical force.
England, if they beat DR Congo later today, will walk into that same stadium to face this same Mexico. They will bring their own pedigree and pressure. They will also walk into an arena that has rediscovered its taste for knockout nights.
Norway’s Viking beat
On another continent, another drumbeat sounded. Norway, never shy of a celebration, climbed into their familiar Viking-rowboat routine after Erling Haaland’s late winner sealed a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast.
The tie swung back and forth. Antonio Nusa struck first for Norway on 39 minutes, only for Amad Diallo to haul Ivory Coast level in the 74th with the day’s standout goal – a slaloming run and a precise finish that briefly tilted the match towards extra time.
Then came Oscar Bobb and a small, strange piece of television gold. Before the substitute threaded the incisive pass that led to Haaland’s 86th‑minute decider, he had already inspired BBC co‑commentator Danny Murphy into an unexpectedly personal tangent. Murphy recalled a cat called Bob who once jumped into the back of a Royal Mail van and disappeared. “Sad really. Anyway.” The Murphy family, it later emerged, now find Postman Pat a little too close to home.
On the pitch, there was nothing whimsical about Norway’s finish. Haaland, quiet by his standards for long stretches, did what he does: found space, found the net, found the moment. The win sets up a last‑16 meeting with Brazil, and with it one of the World Cup’s most curious records.
Norway remain the only team to have faced Brazil and never lost. Four meetings, two wins, two draws. The statistic hangs over this fixture like a dare. Brazil, the eternal benchmark, against the one side that has never bent.
A day of omens
By the end of it all, this World Cup day felt less like a routine round of 32 and more like a series of warnings delivered to the rest of the field.
France, ruthless and resplendent, dismantling Sweden and prompting their manager to bow to his star. Mexico, stirred by a teenage talent and an old stadium rediscovering its menace, finally breaking a 38‑year knockout hoodoo. Norway, powered by Haaland and haunted perhaps by Diallo’s brilliance, marching on to test their improbable hold over Brazil.
Some teams spent the day resting, recovering, plotting the next move. They will have watched these games with interest. They might have gone to bed with something else.
A shiver.
