EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and France are sizzling \u2014 and not just because of MetLife Stadium’s broiling conditions.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 had his third two-goal game of this World Cup and set a career scoring record for the tournament’s knockout rounds, leading Les Bleus over Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a round of 16 match against Paraguay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally haven’t seen a better team,\u201d Sweden coach Graham Potter said. \u201cThe quality they have all over the pitch and then the options for them off the bench are very, very strong, so they\u2019ve got as good a chance as anybody, I would suggest.\u201d<\/p>\n
France’s 27-year-old star scored the go-ahead goal with a brilliant crossover step in the 45th minute and added his sixth goal of the tournament in the 74th to tie Lionel Messi for the tournament scoring lead. He has 18 goals in 18 World Cup games, one behind the Argentine’s career scoring record of 19 in 29 matches.<\/p>\n
In between, Bradley Barcola had a 53rd-minute goal for France, which became the first nation to score three or more goals in five consecutive World Cup matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very aware of who I am, how I play, what I shall do, but it\u2019s not just about me,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said through a translator. “The entire team is aware of what should be done. It is a new competition that has started today. We did play well, but we were timid. We could have done better at the beginning.”<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s 10 knockout round goals are two more than the previous high by Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
France coach Didier Deschamps bowed when Mbapp\u00e9 came to the bench after he was substituted in the 85th minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re on a mission \u2014 so am I with them,\u201d Deschamps said through a translator.<\/p>\n
France has outscored opponents 13-2. Michael Olise has five assists, the most in a World Cup since Germany’s Thomas Hassler had five in 1994.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are skilled at knowing when to change the pace and increase it, when to possess the ball, went to fall back,\u201d Sweden captain Victor Lindel\u00f6f said through a translator.<\/p>\n
Seeking to reach its third straight World Cup final, France plays Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia. The winner advances to a quarterfinal against Canada or Morocco five days later at Foxborough, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), sunny and humid at the 5 p.m. kickoff with poor air quality at the site of the July 19 final. Many fans in the club areas stayed inside their air-conditioned suites.<\/p>\n
France outshot Sweden 25-7 in the first World Cup meeting between the nations, including 15-3 in the first half.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 hit a post in the 32nd minute, raising both hands in disgust, and France nearly went ahead four minutes later on Olise\u2019s spectacular bicycle kick from just inside the penalty area, which also clanked off a post.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I think we needed a couple of miracles. We had a couple, but we ran out of them,” Potter said. \u201cSo we needed a few more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 scored after goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstr\u00f6m tipped Olise\u2019s shot just outside the post.<\/p>\n
Olise played a short corner kick to Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, who passed to Mbapp\u00e9 near the byline. Mbapp\u00e9 took a crossover step to get around Viktor Gy\u00f6keres and from just outside the 6-yard box sent a diagonal shot inside the far post.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 ran up the center of the field to celebrate, colliding with Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, and jogged to the bench to hug Deschamps, who returned for the match after going to France for his mother\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows that he will never be alone with us, and we will support him,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n
Gustaf Lagerbielke lost the ball ahead of France\u2019s second goal. Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni passed to Olise, who nutmegged Lagerbielke, and Barcola took a centering touch and sent the ball past Zetterstr\u00f6m\u2019s outstretched right hand.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 entertained the crowd with a backheel pass to Barcola in the buildup to France\u2019s third goal, the 62nd of his international career. Barcola passed to Olise, who sent the ball forward as Mbapp\u00e9 sprinted into the penalty area, took a touch and fired the ball inside the far post.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to deliver great performances,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n
A crowd of 80,663 raised the record total for the expanded 104-match tournament above 5 million. A majority of fans wore France\u2019s blue, with a pocket in Sweden\u2019s yellow at one end.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no complaints to the players whatsoever. I said to them after the game I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a disgrace to lose to France,” Potter said. \u201cFor us it\u2019s about using this as a foundation to go forward and to be proud of what we\u2019ve done so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking just after the final whistle, Mbapp\u00e9 wasn’t quite ready to turn his attention to Paraguay just yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the changing room and the AC,” he said.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and France are sizzling \u2014 and not just because of MetLife Stadium’s broiling conditions. Mbapp\u00e9 had his third two-goal game of this World Cup and set a career scoring record for the tournament’s knockout rounds, leading Les Bleus over Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a round … Continue reading Mbapp\u00e9 scores twice to tie Messi for World Cup lead with 6 goals, France beats Sweden 3-0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1519476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-03 05:12:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1519476"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519477,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519476\/revisions\/1519477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1519476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1519476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1519476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}