EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — France will be considerable favorites to advance when they face Sweden in their round of 32 clash early Tuesday evening.
France leaned on their wealth of attacking talent to win Group I. Kylian Mbappe scored twice in each of their first two wins. Then, Ousmane Dembele’s first-half hat trick powered Les Bleus to a 4-1 victory over heavily rotated Norway in the group finale.
Overall, manager Didier Deschamps’ side outscored opponents 10-2 in the group phase. And while the knockout rounds are traditionally where things get more conservative, France have often been a successful exception to the rule.
In the 2018 knockout phase, they outscored their single-elimination foes 11-5 en route to their second World Cup trophy. In 2022, it was 10-5, with the French losing the final on penalties to Argentina after an enthralling 3-3 draw.
“Some people were asking, ‘Can we do it like that?'” Deschamps said of the French approach via an interpretation. “But we did it four years ago, with different players, but we had a similar system. Other teams do it too.
“When we have the ball, there’s no problem. When we don’t, we’ll have to be efficient. But we have the ability to create danger and hurt the opposition. And that’s a strength, and I want us to maintain that strength.”
Deschamps will also be returning to the sideline after he missed the win over Norway due to the death of his mother. Assistant Guy Stephan took the reins in that match.
Sweden’s tournament has been far less smooth, opening with a 5-1 rout of Tunisia before losing by the same score to the Netherlands. But manager Graham Potter’s side managed to rebound from the latter defeat to grind out a 1-1 draw against Japan to solidify their spot in the last 32.
Instead of putting that loss to the Dutch behind them, Potter insists it’s necessary adversity to learn from as they prepare to face a similarly talented opponent.
“We’ve come through a tough group,” Potter said. “I think the Netherlands game will be a really strong reference point for us in terms of how we can grow from that experience. I think we’ll need to. As I said, I think we need to play the best game we’ve played (to beat France). But that’s exciting. That’s football. That’s what we’re here for.”
Sweden also lost defender Isak Hien for the remainder of the tournament with a hamstring strain suffered during that Japan draw.
That could convince Potter to move captain Victor Lindelof further back into a center back role — rather than central midfield — in a match where they’ll be expected to weather plenty of pressure.
“I think when you get to the stage of his career, with the experience he has, the quality he has, it’s about how you best think he can help the team, and provided he’s OK with it because clearly you don’t want to put players in situations where they’re not comfortable,” Potter said. “So it’s nice to have that type of resource.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
