Formidable France ready for Swedish test in Round of 32

By Ian King

France have been one of the strongest-looking teams so far

As runners-up four years ago and winners eight years ago, France were talked up as potential winners of this summer’s World Cup before it got underway, and there was little in their three group match performances to disavow this notion. Comfortable wins against Senegal, Iraq and Norway were enough to see them through with room to spare, with Ousmane Dembélé offering a timely reminder that their attacking options are far from limited to Kylian Mbappé alone with a stunning first half hat-trick in their final match against Norway.

Sweden had a somewhat less stately procession through the group stages. They looked set pretty fair after demolishing Tunisia 5-1 in their opening match, but undid most of this good work by losing their next match by the same scoreline to the Netherlands and eventually scrambled through as one of the third-placed teams following a 1-1 draw with Japan in their final group match. With their place in the World Cup play-offs having been determined by their Nations League performances, they’re already in the somewhat unusual position of having already won more matches in the finals than they did in their qualifying group (which was none). 

France have never beaten Sweden in the finals of a major tournament

With twelve wins and five draws from their 23 meetings, France have the clear upper hand in the previous meetings between these two sides, but this hasn’t been the case when they’ve met in the finals of a major tournament. 

This has only happened twice before, and both times in the European Championships rather than the World Cup. In 1992, the two teams played out a 1-1 draw at the Rasunda in Solna, and the group stage ended with Sweden going through to the semi-finals while France went home. 

In 2012, when they met in Kyiv in their final group match, Sweden had already been eliminated and France were already through to the quarter-finals, but this didn’t prevent Sweden from winning the match 2-0. 

The last time these two sides met was in the 2019/20 Nations League, and there was better news for France this time, as they recorded a 1-0 win in Stockholm and a 4-2 win in Paris in the return match.

France’s attacking options stretch beyond Mbappé and Dembélé

Mbappé and Dembélé may have scored eight of France’s ten goals between them so far in these finals, but their attacking options don’t end there. Bradley Barcola of PSG scored for them in their opening match against Senegal, but he’s been in and out of their first team recently, returning to the bench for the Norway match after starting against Iraq. Barcola can play on either wing, and may return to the starting XI for this match.

Sweden’s most visible presence on the pitch at this tournament so far has been the Newcastle United winger Anthony Elanga, who scored in two of their group matches, including the crucial equaliser in their final match against Japan which sent them through to the knockout stage. With two strong performances behind him after having missed out on their opening win against Tunisia, Elanga’s support for striker Viktor Gyökeres could be crucial for Graham Potter, if his team are to edge through this match. 

Sweden have to reshuffle following a serious injury to Isak Hien

The biggest change for France for this match will come on the sidelines rather than on the pitch. The death of his mother required Didier Deschamps to return to France for her funeral, but Deschamps is now back with his team, with Guy Stephan having taken control of the team for the Norway match. 

France have no suspensions, and Stephan didn’t rock the boat too much for his game in charge, opting to stick with Mbappé, Dembélé and Desiré Doué, while replacing Bradley Barcola with Michael Olise. Elsewhere, William Saliba may return after missing the Norway match with a back problem, though his appearance remains uncertain.

Sweden have no suspensions, but they do have one injury. Defender Isak Hien had to be withdrawn after 37 minutes of the Japan match with a hamstring injury which will keep him out of the remainder of the tournament. Victor Lindelhof started that match in midfield, but will likely drop back to the centre of defence, with Lucas Bergvall the most likely candidate to step into the centre of their midfield to replace him.

Sweden can offer France a challenge, but the tournament favourites should be too strong for them

Having finished bottom of their qualifying group with just two points from their six matches, there’s a case for saying that Sweden shouldn’t be in these finals at all, having secured their play-off place via the Nations League. But they’re here, and their convincing win against Tunisia and a solid draw against Japan have demonstrated that they warranted their qualification, despite falling apart during the 5-1 loss to the Netherlands that came between these two impressive results.

But France will be overflowing with confidence following their comfortable progress through their first three matches. True enough, it was difficult to draw too many inferences about them from the Norway match alone, given that their opponents chose to field the reserves for a match being played when both teams had already qualified, but they still won it 4-1, and there have been no real signs of weakness in their team in their matches so far.

It is, therefore, difficult to see past France winning this match. With surprise package Paraguay awaiting them in the last 16, their route through this tournament is opening up, and they should get through this match with a degree of comfort. 3-0 sounds like the sort of scoreline that would accommodate goals from more than one of their lavish attacking options. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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