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The spirit and unity of this exceptionally talented Les Bleus team should also worry the remaining sides left in the tournament - and it was on full display during Tuesday's 3-0 dismantling of Sweden. After Kylian Mbappe's superbly crafted opening goal, France's all-time leading scorer ran straight towards his bench to embrace Didier Deschamps. The head coach was back in the dugout for the first time since returning from France to attend the funeral of his mother. Mbappe and Deschamps were then joined by the rest of the team. A group hug followed. After an emotional few days, the smile was back on Deschamps' face as his side turned on the style in the baking New Jersey heat to book a last-16 tie with Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday, 4 July (22:00 BST). "This group is united and they delivered when I was not here [last week]," said Deschamps afterwards. "The team spirit of this group doesn't make you win matches. But I know if it's the other way round, you can lose games. The collective strength is above everything." Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni added: "We know the coach is going through a lot, we are trying to give everything to make him as happy as possible." Bradley Barcola made it 2-0 before Mbappe added his second to move level on six goals with Argentina's Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. "You cannot stop this kind of ability," former England striker Ian Wright told ITV Sport. "France are one of the most clear favourites I have ever seen in a World Cup tournament." Wright's former Arsenal team-mate Patrick Vieira, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, added: "They showed to everyone that they are the team to beat." As well as Mbappe's outstanding finishing, Michael Olise chipped in with another couple of assists to take his tally to five for the tournament, as France became the first team to score three or more goals in five straight World Cup matches. It was a breathless display that left the 80,000 fans lucky to be inside the stadium asking: is anyone capable of stopping France's Class of 2026? Mbappe scores twice as France breeze past Sweden into last 16 Published23 JuneMbappe v Haaland: Who is more important for their country? Published4 days ago'I haven't seen a better team'To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be played Four years on from suffering penalty heartbreak against Argentina in the final in Qatar, Les Bleus look determined to make amends and go all the way this time. They missed a catalogue of chances against Sweden as they clocked up 25 attempts - their highest total in a single World Cup match since 1998. Yet France have still scored 13 times in four games in the United States and their individual statistics are on a different level. Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele has six goal involvements (four goals, two assists), Michael Olise has five assists and hit the post with an outrageous acrobatic attempt. But in Mbappe they have a player in his prime, at his sharpest, showing why he is one of the best finishers on the planet. Not only is he level in the race for the Golden Boot - awarded to the leading scorer at the tournament - the Real Madrid forward now has 18 World Cup goals, one behind Messi who has scored more than anyone else in the history of the competition. France's captain has scored two or more goals in seven different World Cup matches, three more than any other player. "What we saw from France was precision and devastation," former England full-back Gary Neville told ITV Sport. "That [front] four that started the game [Mbappe, Dembele, Olise and Barcola] - they will cause nightmares for every single defender in the tournament and I don't know how they stop that to be fair. "They are a level above. Brazil won in the last minute, Germany and the Netherlands have gone out. France are showing everyone else in this round how to do it. "The rest are looking at them thinking: 'That's the level we have got to get to'." Even Sweden boss Graham Potter admitted: "It's no disgrace to go out to this France team. Olise started his footballing journey at Hayes & Yeading United at the age of six. Eighteen years on, the former Crystal Palace player is showing the world what an outstanding talent he is on the biggest stage of all. Born in Hammersmith to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother, Olise is the first player to provide five or more assists at a single World Cup tournament since 1994. "He is a major influence within the squad and is the link between the strikers and the defence.
Original Source: BBC Sport
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