France Dominates Sweden as Mbappé Shines in World Cup
Didier Deschamps stood on the touchline, arms outstretched, palms open, bowing to his departing star. It was part joke, part tribute, and entirely appropriate. By the time Kylian Mbappé reached him, France were 3-0 up on Sweden, cruising into the last 16, and the World Cup had just been handed one of its great individual performances.
This was a beating. On the scoreboard it read 3-0. In reality, it felt closer to six.
France tore through Sweden with a front line that moved like quicksilver. Mbappé scored twice, Bradley Barcola added another, and Michael Olise stitched it all together with two assists and a highlight reel of his own. Both Mbappé and Olise hit the post, Olise with an overhead kick so audacious it seemed to hang in the air waiting to be crowned goal of the tournament.
Sweden never got close. Graham Potter admitted his side would not have won even had they been “perfect”, and it did not sound like an excuse. France played with the swagger of a team chasing history, not just a place in the quarter-finals. The question now is not whether they are contenders, but which ghost they choose to chase: the ruthless, world-conquering Brazil of 1970, or the bewitching, ultimately doomed Brazil of 1982.
Deschamps, so often painted as the dour pragmatist, found himself the subject of rare deference. Even from his own players. Mbappé’s beeline to the bench after his first goal, straight into his manager’s arms, carried extra weight. Deschamps had flown home last week to attend his mother’s funeral. On this evidence, his team are determined to give him something profound in return.
Mexico wake the Azteca
Much later, under the threat of electrical storms, the Azteca flickered into life. Mexico’s round-of-32 tie with Ecuador was delayed by an hour as the weather rolled in. Once the game finally kicked off, Ecuador faced a different kind of storm.
The stadium crackled. Mexico matched it.
A ferocious first half, driven by the energy and fearlessness of teenage breakout star Gilberto Mora, swept Ecuador away. Julián Quiñones struck on 22 minutes, Raúl Jiménez added a second on 31, and Mexico were suddenly living in a past they have long tried to revisit: a World Cup knockout victory on home soil, their first since 1986.
The Azteca has seen generations come and go since then. This win felt like a bridge between eras, the old colossus of a stadium roaring a new side into relevance.
England, if they get past DR Congo later today, will walk straight into that cauldron. They have been warned.
Haaland, a cat called Bob, and Norway’s Brazil habit
In another corner of the draw, Norway and Ivory Coast played out the kind of tie that leaves fingernails in ruins. It swung one way, then the other, until Erling Haaland did what Erling Haaland tends to do.
Antonio Nusa had put Norway ahead in the 39th minute. Amad Diallo, with the day’s outstanding solo effort, dragged Ivory Coast level on 74, slaloming through defenders before finishing with a composure that matched the run. From a day rich in goals, his stood out.
Norway did not flinch. On 86 minutes, substitute Oscar Bobb slipped a precise pass into Haaland’s path and the striker buried the chance, sparking the now-familiar Viking-rowboat celebration as Norway’s players mimed their way across the turf.
Bobb had already made an unexpected contribution to the day’s theatre. Before his assist, he prompted BBC co-commentator Danny Murphy into a moment of deadpan melancholy. “I used to have a cat called Bob,” Murphy mused on air. “He jumped in the back of a Royal Mail van and we lost him. Sad really. Anyway.” The Murphy household, it is understood, now finds Postman Pat a little too close to the bone.
On the pitch, Norway’s story takes a more cheerful turn. They now face Brazil in the last 16, and their record against the five-time champions borders on the surreal: four meetings, two wins, two draws, no defeats. For all Brazil’s mystique, Norway remain their awkward, unshakable itch.
A day of omens
Scattered across the schedule, the signs felt ominous for anyone watching from a hotel room rather than a dugout.
France looked like a team ready to stride into the tournament’s mythology. Mexico rediscovered the power of the Azteca and a generation that believes it belongs on this stage. Norway, powered by Haaland and haunted by lost cats, kept their peculiar hold over Brazil intact as their next chapter loomed.
Elsewhere, the World Cup machine rolls on. England meet DR Congo, Belgium take on Senegal, the USA face Bosnia and Herzegovina. Beyond football, Louth’s footballers have crashed through a 67-year ceiling to reach an All-Ireland semi-final, while rugby’s new Nations Championship offers Ireland their most useful proving ground in years.
But it is the images from this World Cup day that will linger: Mbappé bowing the world to his will, Deschamps bowing back; Diallo weaving through defenders; Haaland’s late, ruthless swing of the pendulum; the Azteca roaring itself hoarse.
For some teams, this was a rest day. For the rest, it sounded like a warning.
