Prateek Tanmay
France, seeking their third title after 1998 and 2018, swept its group matches for the first time since 1998, joined by Argentina and Mexico as the only nations to win all three games. Sweden’s results were all over the place during group play and it finished third in Group F. Sweden beat Tunisia 5-1 in the opener before losing to the Netherlands 5-1 and then fighting to a 1-1 draw with Japan.
Will the real France, full of attacking talent, step up on big stage
France’s Ousmane Dembele, right, celebrates with Kylian Mbappe, center, and other teammates after scoring his side’s third goal during the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Frightfully abundant in attacking talent during a period that has the makings of a dynasty but is peppered with the inability to win a slew of major trophies, France could have been the Brazil of 1958-70.
The South American giants carved out a legacy falling only once, to the Italians, in a 12-year cycle of dominance built by an assembly line of domestic talent lining up behind the mercurial Pele. As France head coach Didier Deschamps’ prepares for his swansong, his charges have to show they know how to get the job done.
Kylian Mbappe is now 27 and France’s leading man. Captain, central striker, bereft of any defensive responsibilities, the Frenchman is where he would like to be. The last visual of him from a World Cup was one of singularity: three goals in 120+ minutes of football, followed by one of three in the penalty shootout in the 2022 final against Argentina.
Mbappe joined Geoff Hurst as scorers of hat-tricks in a final, but came out on the wrong end of the result.
Qatar would forever be a scar.
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