{"id":5859,"date":"2026-06-30T23:24:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T23:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=5859"},"modified":"2026-06-30T23:24:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T23:24:36","slug":"unstoppable-mbappe-4-takeaways-from-frances-calm-and-comfortable-win-vs-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=5859","title":{"rendered":"Unstoppable Mbapp\u00e9: 4 Takeaways From France&#039;s Calm And Comfortable Win vs. Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>France is currently the best show in international football. Not a debate; not a hot take; a 3-0 verdict at MetLife Stadium delivered with the kind of casual, suffocating excellence that makes you wonder how any team is supposed to stop them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Sweden had Viktor Gy\u00f6keres and Alexander Isak, two of the most feared strikers in European club football, and they managed only four shots all game; France had 25. That&#8217;s not a contest; that&#8217;s an exhibition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Here are my four takeaways from France&#8217;s 3-0 win over Sweden:<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Catherine Ivill &#8211; AMA\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Stop what you are doing. Watch this man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 has now scored 18 goals in 18 World Cup appearances. Lionel Messi holds the all-time record at 19. Only one goal separates the greatest of all time from the next in line, and Mbapp\u00e9 is only 27. Let that settle for a second.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>He opened the scoring just before halftime, latching onto an Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 cutback from a corner and slotting past Jacob Zetterstr\u00f6m with the kind of composure that makes goalkeepers feel irrelevant. His second goal, the third for France, was even better: a curling finish into the far corner that sent the entire French bench sprinting toward Didier Deschamps. There was something undeniably emotional about that one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>He had a goal disallowed for offside. He hit the post. He could have had four. Sweden had no answer, no plan, and ultimately no chance. Mbapp\u00e9 is not just France&#8217;s best player; he is the best player in this tournament alongside Messi.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by ANGELA WEISS \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>At some point, you stop analyzing France and just start applauding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Over 60% possession. Twelve shots on target. Nine corners. Goals from open play, set pieces, through balls, cutbacks. France has a different weapon for every situation, and Didier Deschamps is deploying them all with the calm of a man who has done this before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Michael Olise was, at times, from another planet. He carved through Sweden's shape repeatedly, pulling strings, finding pockets, and laying off with both feet. His bicycle kick attempt may have just kissed the woodwork and stayed out, but if that ball had gone in, we'd be talking about it for decades. Potentially one of the great World Cup goals never scored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Bradley Barcola's second goal was a textbook France move: Olise slipping it through V\u00edctor Lindel\u00f6f's legs, Barcola doing the rest. Effortless. Lethal. The only thing that kept this from becoming an absolute hammering was Swedish goalkeeper Zetterstr\u00f6m, who made nine saves and single-handedly prevented a tennis score. Sweden could have conceded six or seven on another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>(Photo by Tom Weller\/picture alliance via Getty Images)<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Graham Potter&#8217;s side deserves credit for showing up at all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Sweden came into this World Cup having missed the 2022 tournament entirely, back after a painful absence and carrying enormous expectations on the shoulders of Gy\u00f6keres and Isak, two strikers with wildly expensive price tags and tons of expectation. In their opening group game, they delivered: a 5-1 demolition of Tunisia that was genuinely thrilling. Sweden looked like a side that could cause problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Then came the Netherlands. A 5-1 loss that quickly recalibrated expectations. Sweden steadied somewhat, drawing 1-1 with Japan to scrape through as a third-place team. They arrived here knowing the draw had not been kind, facing the tournament&#8217;s overwhelming favorites. Sometimes the bracket plays cruel tricks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Against France, Gy\u00f6keres and Isak barely touched the ball in meaningful areas. Anthony Elanga worked hard and went largely unrewarded. This Swedish generation \u2014 gifted, genuinely exciting to watch \u2014 simply ran into the wrong team at the wrong time. No shame in that. They belong at this level. They&#8217;ll be back.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Shaun Botterill &#8211; FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Last week, I gave Lionel Messi two takeaways after his masterclass against Austria. Messi wasn't thrilled when I told him. (He doesn't read my column. This is fine.) But standards are standards, and Mbapp\u00e9's performance today demands a second look from a completely different angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Because here's what struck me beyond the numbers: Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 looks genuinely, visibly happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>This matters more than it sounds. The past year at Real Madrid was, by most accounts, a slow-motion rollercoaster. Three managers in one season. A dressing room with more fault lines than a geology textbook. A \"Mbapp\u00e9 Out\" petition from disgruntled Madridistas. Being booed at the Bernab\u00e9u. Reportedly not wanting to play at the Bernab\u00e9u again. A season that ended without a single trophy and with his relationship with the club's fanbase in ruins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>None of that Mbapp\u00e9 showed up today. This version was laughing on the pitch, celebrating with teammates, sprinting to hug Deschamps after his second goal in a moment that felt like a release. And the dynamic with Olise is something to behold. The two of them are playing with a freedom and instinctiveness that you rarely see at the international level. They find each other without looking. They trust each other completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The France national team has become, by all appearances, the place where Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 actually wants to be. And when he is happy, he is absolutely terrifying to play against. Messi's record is one goal away. Heaven help whoever is next.<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY France is currently the best show in international football. Not a debate; not a hot take; a 3-0 verdict at MetLife Stadium delivered with the kind of casual, suffocating excellence that makes you wonder how any team is supposed to stop them. Sweden had Viktor Gy\u00f6keres and Alexander Isak, two of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}