No Messi, No Ronaldo: Mbappé sets World Cup knockout scoring record
Kylian Mbappé continued his remarkable World Cup legacy by becoming the tournament's greatest knockout scorer as France swept aside Sweden 3-0 at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday to secure a place in the Round of 16.
The France captain scored twice and produced another match-winning display, while Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise also starred as Didier Deschamps' men comfortably outclassed Sweden to set up a last-16 meeting with Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia.
France controlled proceedings from the opening whistle, pinning Sweden deep inside their own half with relentless possession and attacking intent. Mbappé and Olise both struck the woodwork during a dominant first-half spell, while the Real Madrid forward also had an earlier effort ruled out for offside.
The breakthrough finally arrived on the stroke of half-time. After combining with Ousmane Dembélé, Mbappé collected the ball inside the area, beat Viktor Gyökeres with a dazzling crossover step and rifled an unstoppable finish beyond goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström to hand Les Bleus a deserved lead.
The goal saw Mbappé rewrite World Cup history, moving clear of Brazilian legends Leônidas and Ronaldo as the outright leading scorer in FIFA World Cup knockout matches.
France carried that momentum into the second half and doubled their advantage in the 52nd minute. Olise carved open the Swedish defence with a sublime through ball before Barcola calmly slotted home to cap a flowing team move.
Sweden struggled to create meaningful openings against France's organised defence, with their attacking trio of Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak and Anthony Elanga largely kept quiet throughout the contest.
Mbappé completed the rout in the 74th minute, timing his run perfectly to meet another inch-perfect Olise pass before curling a composed finish into the far corner for his second goal of the evening.
The brace took Mbappé's tally to six goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, drawing him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. More significantly, it lifted his overall World Cup total to 18 goals in just 18 appearances, leaving him only one strike behind Messi's all-time tournament record of 19, achieved across 29 matches.
France's convincing victory was their most dominant knockout display of the tournament and reinforced their status as one of the favourites for the title. With Mbappé in record-breaking form and Olise orchestrating attacks with ease, Les Bleus now head into their Round of 16 clash against Paraguay full of confidence as they continue their pursuit of a third FIFA World Cup crown.