Kylian Mbappe broke the record for most goals in a World Cup playoff match and moved within one of Lionel Messi’s tournament tally as his two goals led France to a dominant 3-0 win over Sweden at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
The victory, France’s biggest in a World Cup knockout match since a 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 final, opens the door to a round of 16 match against Germany’s winners, Paraguay.
“I understand perfectly well who I am, how I play, what I will do, but this does not only concern me,” Mbappe said through a translator. “The whole team knows what needs to be done. A new competition started today. We played well, but we were timid. We could have done better at the beginning.”
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Mbappe scored a stunning individual goal in the 45th minute after a brilliant crossover.
It was the Real Madrid star’s ninth goal in the World Cup knockout stages, breaking a tie with Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo for the most in the tournament’s history.
After the goal, 27-year-old Mbappe immediately ran to coach Didier Deschamps. It was Deschamps’ first game back on the pitch after missing the group stage final against Norway and flying back to Europe for his mother’s funeral.
“He knows he will never be alone with us and we will support him,” Mbappe said.
But Mbappe wasn’t done there. After Bradley Barcola scored France’s second early in the second half, Mbappe added a classy third in the 74th minute, latching on to Michael Olise’s perfectly weighted pass and expertly curling his shot into the back of the net.
Mbappe’s sixth goal at this year’s tournament tied him with Argentina striker Messi for the Golden Boot. With 18 goals in 18 World Cup matches, he moved ahead of Messi on the list of all-time top scorers. During his career, Messi played in 29 World Cup matches.
Kylian Mbappe celebrates his team’s first goal against Sweden with France coach Didier Deschamps. Ian McNicol/Getty Images
Deschamps took a bow as his star came to the bench after being substituted in the 85th minute.
“We are on a mission and I am with them,” Deschamps said through an interpreter.
Olise also helped achieve Barcola’s goal of increasing his assist count to five in the tournament, the most by a single player at the men’s World Cup since Thomas Hessler for Germany in 1994.
“He does everything on the field,” Barcola said of Olis. “He works hard defensively and with the ball, makes great passes, creates danger and is a pleasure to play with.”
“He also has the ability to score and he came close to it, but that will come. He’s a genius. I consider him a genius.”
Looking to reach a third straight World Cup final, France will play Paraguay on Saturday in Philadelphia, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals against Canada or Morocco five days later in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
On a hot afternoon at MetLife Stadium, site of the World Cup final on July 19, France beat Sweden 25–7, including 15–3 in the first half. It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) at the start of 5 p.m., sunny and humid, with poor air quality. During a drinking break in the first half, France defender Lucas Digne doused himself with a spray bottle.
Mbappe hit the post in the 32nd minute, raising both hands in disgust, and four minutes later France almost took the lead thanks to Olise’s spectacular bicycle kick from outside the penalty area, which also deflected off the post.
In the first meeting of the World Cup between the teams, Mbappe scored after goalkeeper Jakob Widell Zetterström deflected Olise’s shot just off the post.
Olise sent a short corner kick to Ousmane Dembele, who passed to Mbappe near the baseline. Mbappe made a crossover to get past Victor Dieuqueres and from outside the 6-metre penalty area he fired a diagonal shot into the far post for his 61st international goal.
Gustav Lagerbelke lost the ball before France’s second goal. Aurélien Tchouameni passed to Olise, who picked out Lagerbelke, and Barcola cut down the middle and sent the ball past Zetterström’s outstretched right hand.
Mbappe entertained the crowd with a backheel pass to Barcola in the build-up to France’s third goal. Barcola passed the ball to Olisa, who passed the ball to Mbappe as the star raced into the box. He touched the ball and fired into the far post.
The crowd of 80,663 took the 104-match extended tournament record past 5 million. Most of the fans wore the French blue uniform and had a pocket at one end in the Swedish yellow uniform.
“If we look at where we were not so long ago, we’re here and we played in the World Cup,” said Swedish defender Victor Lindelof. “We lost to one of the best countries in the world.”
Mbappe was not quite ready to turn his attention to Paraguay.
“I’m looking forward to the locker room and the air conditioning,” he said.
ESPN’s Julien Lawrence, The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.