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France crushes Sweden 3-0 and rediscovers efficiency absent since 1998

France dominated Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday, June 30 in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, securing their first knockout-stage victory by three goals or more since the 1998 final against Brazil.

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France crushes Sweden 3-0 and rediscovers efficiency absent since 1998
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France swept Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 in the Round of 16 of the World Cup, qualifying for the quarter-finals and achieving an unprecedented performance in a knockout stage of a World Cup in twenty-eight years.

The last time the Blues had won by at least three goals in a knockout match at the World Cup was in the final of the 1998 edition, hosted in France, against Brazil — also by a score of 3-0. Neither during their triumph in 2018 in Russia nor during their run to the final in Qatar in 2022 had Didier Deschamps’ side opened up such a margin in a decisive match.

This decisive victory fits into a striking offensive dynamic since the start of the tournament. In four matches, France has scored thirteen goals, an average of three per game. You have to go back to 1958 to find a French team as prolific over the first four matches of the same World Cup: at that time, the Blues had scored fifteen over an equivalent sequence.

Kylian Mbappé and his teammates are therefore advancing to the quarter-finals driven by an efficiency that previous generations — despite their titles — had not achieved at this stage of the competition. If Deschamps’ squad continues its run in the United States at the same pace, other historical records could fall before the end of the tournament.

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