Kylian Mbappe became the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup knockout matches as France cruised past Sweden 3-0 to set up a last 16 tie with Paraguay.
A strike in each half took Mbappe to 10 knockout stage goals, while he now shares the lead in the Golden Boot race at this tournament with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, with both on six goals.
Both sides had to content with scorching temperatures in New Jersey, but Les Bleus wasted little time in bombarding their opponents.
An offside flag denied Mbappe a 20th-minute opener before he struck the post when Jules Koude’s low cross found the striker with the goal gaping.
Minutes later, Michael Olise hit the foot of the upright with an audacious scissor kick from just inside the penalty area, before Ousmane Dembele smashed the rebound wide.
Sweden goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom frustrated the French with a string of fine saves, but was powerless to keep out Mbappe on the stroke of half-time.
French frustration was just beginning to show when Mbappe ran onto Dembele’s slide-rule pass, wrong-footed Viktor Gyokeres with a stepover, and fired into the far corner.
Sweden should have drawn level immediately, but Elliot Stroud blazed over after the ball fell to him 12 yards from goal.
That was the peak of Sweden’s resistance, as eight minutes into the second half Bradley Barcola ran onto a cute Olise pass and rifled the ball in at the near post.
Dembele drew another fine save from Widell Zetterstrom with a trademark curling shot from the right, before the Swede denied Olise one-on-one.
Mbappe got his second in the 74th minute when he ran onto another fine Olise pass and curled the ball past Widell Zetterstrom.
Erling Haaland tapped home a dramatic late winner as Norway beat Ivory Coast to set up a last-16 showdown with Brazil at the World Cup.
The Manchester City striker had been quiet in Dallas before the 86th minute, as Antonio Nusa and Amad Diallo traded brilliant strikes in a tense game.
But Haaland was in the right place to bobble home the decisive goal from six yards following Patrick Berg’s cutback.
It means Haaland has scored in 13 successive competitive internationals for Norway, his latest goal helping his country win a World Cup knockout match for the first time.
Ivory Coast appeared to have forced extra time thanks to a superb 74th-minute strike by second-half sub Amad – surprisingly left out as manager Emerse Fae lined up his side in a more defensive 4-1-4-1 formation. It proved an error by Fae as the Ivorians struggled to create before going behind in the 39th minute.
Nusa is less heralded than strike partner Haaland, but the 21-year-old RB Leipzig winger produced a moment of sublime quality by cutting into the box from the left and curling a right-footed shot into the top corner.
After scoring the opener in their three group games, Ivory Coast were forced to chase the game – so Fae sent on Amad in the second half, and the 23-year-old showed his country what they were missing as he cut in from the right, beat two men and slotted home his second goal of the tournament.
