12JUL

France and Norway cruise into last 16

2 min read

14:15UTC

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France beat Sweden 3-0, and Erling Haaland's late goal carried Norway past Ivory Coast 2-1.

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Key takeaway

France beat Sweden 3-0 and Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1, both favourites through without extra time.

France beat Sweden 3-0 at MetLife Stadium on 30 June and Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 the same day, both pre-tournament favourites reaching the last 16 without alarm ¹. Kylian Mbappe scored twice for France, with Bradley Barcola adding the third; Erling Haaland settled Norway's tie after Antonio Nusa's opener ².

MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford outside New York, hosted France's win and will stage the final later in July. Mbappe, the France captain and one of the tournament's leading scorers, struck in first-half stoppage time and again after the hour. Haaland, Norway's record scorer at his first World Cup, applied the decisive finish a week after Norway rested him and captain Martin Odegaard for a dead-rubber group game .

The round's upsets fell on two European names that could not take their chances, not on the seeding as a whole. France and Norway carried more attacking quality than their opponents and converted it without needing extra time or penalties. Advancing with a full side and fresh legs matters into the last 16, where France in particular avoid the fatigue that Belgium and others spent overcoming their own scares.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

France beat Sweden 3-0, with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice, and Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 with a late Erling Haaland winner. Both sides went into the tournament as favourites to go deep, and both advanced comfortably rather than needing a nervy finish. A comfortable knockout win usually means less physical wear heading into the next match, since neither side had to play extra time or defend a late lead under pressure.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Consensus view: Opta's win-probability models treat comfortable round-of-32 wins by pre-tournament favourites, such as France's 3-0 and Norway's 2-1, as a meaningful positive signal for a deep run, since sides that ease through their first knockout tie typically arrive at the next round with less fatigue than one that needed extra time.

Counter-view: Football writers covering both sides have cautioned that round-of-32 opponents are rarely a side's toughest test, so an untroubled scoreline here says more about the draw than about how either favourite will cope once knockout football gets harder.

Key tension: Whether an easy first knockout win is genuine evidence of tournament-winning form or simply a reflection of facing a weaker opponent.

Sources:FIFA·Opta

Mentions:France →Sweden →Kylian Mbappé →Norway →Erling Haaland →MetLife Stadium →Martin Ødegaard →Opta →Belgium →East Rutherford →World Cup →Côte d'Ivoire →

First Reported In

Update #32 · Four dead in Mexico's World Cup crush

FIFA· 2 Jul 2026

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Causes and effects

This Event

France and Norway cruise into last 16

The round's two favourites, France and Norway, advanced in normal time while the shocks fell on other European sides.

Led to

Mbappe penalty puts France in last eight

France beat Sweden in the round of 32 before beating Paraguay to reach the quarter-finals.

Occurred 4 Jul 2026

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Different Perspectives

Spain

Spain face France on Tuesday for the second semi-final place, the last unresolved tie in the bracket.

France

France already through to the other semi-final, await Tuesday's result against Spain to know who plays the England-Argentina winner in the final.

Switzerland

Switzerland reached their first World Cup quarter-final since 1954 and led Argentina before Breel Embolo's second yellow card left them a man down for the last half-hour. They expect the run to raise expectations for the next cycle rather than close a chapter.

Norway

Norway leaned on Erling Haaland to reach a first modern-era quarter-final, and he nearly took them further before a disallowed goal and England's late double ended the run. Their tournament closes as the best World Cup performance in the country's history.

Argentina national team

Argentina broke down a 10-man Switzerland late, extending Scaloni's run of reaching every semi-final he has managed since 2019. Messi will make his first World Cup appearance against England, a fixture Argentine coverage framed around that unbroken run rather than the personal narrative.

England

England needed a 93rd-minute Bellingham winner to see off Norway, the third straight knockout tie settled in its closing stages rather than controlled. They travel to Atlanta as favourites but with Declan Rice a fitness doubt and Jarell Quansah suspended.