Key events
44 mins: France are moving through the gears here. Everything is feeling a little quicker than earlier. Sweden will be desperate to get through to the break.
In the meantime, France have a corner on the left which Olise sends to the backpost. It is flicked cleared but recycled, with the danger being ended by Lindelof booting the ball down to Maignan.
42 mins: Ayari swings a free-kick into the box but it goes over everyone. Sweden cannot afford to waste opportunities like that.
Down the other end, France threaten with the attacking ending after Olise curls a shot half a yard wide.
40 mins: France have a free-kick on the left for Olise to whip in. He finds Upamecano but his header goes upwards rather than forwards.
France move at speed, Mbappe takes a stunning first touch to open up plenty of space just outside the box but his fierce shot is straight at the goalkeeper.
Colum Fordham says: “I think Harry Potter is at work. Judging from Mbappè’s parried shot, Sweden are leading a charmed life. It might just be a turnip for the books for the Swedes.”
38 mins: Olise is in a heap because Lindelof has caught him with his studs high after trying to recover from a poor touch. He is lucky to get away with that one, I would argue.
36 mins: Ruddy heck! The ball loops up to Olise inside the box. He has his back to goal but he is a world class player, so naturally performs a stunning overhead kick, which pings against the post. Dembele pings up the loose ball and fires a shot just wide.
Not to be outdone, Sweden go down the other end and Isak almost produces a finish form a cross but can’t get enough on it.
35 mins: Gyokeres is doing well to win fouls, earning his side a few valuable seconds of respite.
34 mins: France are flexing their muscles now. Rabiot pings a fireball of a shot from 30 yards and it whizzes and inch over the bar.
32 mins: HOW DOES IT NOT GO IN?! Kounde makes a smart run and picks out Mbappe in space 10 yards out but he sidefoots the ball agains the post. It may not matter as the ball rebounds off Lindelof and is heading into the corner until Zetterstrom gleefully collects.
31 mins: Dembele has another corner on the right but once again a Swedish head is first to meet it.
30 mins: France have a corner on the right which Dembele jogs over to take. It is taken short and the belated cross is header clear with ease.
Danger for Sweden as Rabiot has a chance inside the box, smashing a low shot across the goalkeeper who repels it with a big boot.
28 mins: Rabiot bundles over Ayari, allowing the Brighton midfielder to take a very smart free-kick along the ground to catch out France. Isak runs onto the pass but his finish does not match the invention.
26 mins: The France players seem to wander through the sprinklers, and who can blame them?
We are playing again.
Julian Borrill says: “Justin Kavanagh’s lack of confidence, Sweden can take heart from the fact that all the real magic was done by Hermione Grahamger.”
I’ll take your word for it.
23 mins: HYDRATION BREAK!
It is booed but it is very hot there.
22 mins: The offside was very tight and it offers a remind of what Mbappe brings to the party. The review graphic is shown on the big screen and it is tight but a good call.
20 mins: NO GOAL! Mbappe is played through one-on-one and slides the ball into the corner. He wheels away to celebrate but is called for a very tight offside. The checks do not offer a reprieve for the France captain.
19 mins: The free-kick is punted long, reaching Lagerbielke inside the box but his touch is a poor one and the danger evaporates.
Down the other end, Barcola offers a few shuffles and jinks as he runs through the midfield and into the box but his shot is always rising over the bar.
18 mins: Mbappe has a dig but it is a mundane effort and gobbled up by the goalkeeper.
Gudmundsson says the ball down to Gyokeres down the line, he does well to hold it up and is then held back by Saliba, allowing him to take the option to go down. Sweden have a free-kick on the flank and a chance to lift it into the box.
16 mins: Dembele goes on a mazy run but it takes him sideways rather than forwards. The move, however, continues as France take their time. The ball eventually reaches Kounde on the right, from where he crosses and wins a corner, which is header clear. Digne collects and flashes a shot from 30 yards but the goalkeeper gets down and holds.
14 mins: Zetterstrom pings a clearance all the way to Maignan. I would suggest it is an indication of Sweden’s plans.
Charles Antaki says: “I suppose France have had to play with white, rather than blue, shorts because of the clash with the Swedish kit, though it does seem extremely unlikely that that would lead to any confusion (maybe if somebody’s bum scores a goal?). Anyway I don’t approve of the red white and blue effect; too literally the colours of the flag. For some reason it works for Bulgaria, but in that case the green, white and red in their flag are horizontal so it kind of makes sense.”
12 mins: Sweden have looked decent so far, relatively composed on the ball but I would suggest they should just swing in a cross for the two strikers to attack, instead of being slow around the box.
10 mins: Elanga looks permanently ready to pounce when Sweden are battling to get the ball back. In fairness, he could have a lot of success against Digne.
Stephen McCrossan pens: “Like most people, I don’t reckon Sweden have much of a chance this evening.
“Already up against it, I see they have left Scottish football’s most baffling player of the year – Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren – on the bench.
“In the season just finished the bold Benji demonstrated an amazing capacity to be extremely lightweight and disappear from games for hours at a time and yet still be the glorious Hoops’ top scorer.
“Tactical error by the lad Potter.”
8 mins: Olise is the latest player to be fouled. There have been a few niggly fouls early on to disrupt France. It will be interesting to see how many the referee lets go before getting his cards out.
6 mins: It is rather hot in New Jersey, so the hydration break will at least will be well-deserved today.
Everyone in yellow is currently behind the ball. Sweden win it back in their own half and unleash their cunning plan of sending it up the pitch and allowing Elanga to chase. It works but France regroup and close him down.
4 mins: Ally McCoist is not a fan of the pitch. Suggests it’s an underwhelming surface.
Sweden at the ball forward quickly and it reaches Isak on the edge of the box but his shot is deflected into the arms of the goalkeeper.
Dembele has his first real involvement but that is curtailed by a foul.
2 mins: Digne is caught by Bergvall and offers a little scream to prove he’s been fouled.
Looks more like a 4-4-2 from Sweden at the moment with Elanga on the right of midfield.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Justin Kavanagh is not confident of any wizardry from the Swedes. “I don’t think even Harry Potter would be able to conjure up a win for the Swedes tonight,” he says.
Here come the players!
Richard Hirst suggests: “Although I live in France and am therefore constitutionally obliged to support France I think this writing off of Sweden is a bit premature. I see at least extra time.”
It’s quite late for people working on this game in the UK, so let’s try and avoid that.
Julian Menz lands in the inbox once more: “Some early signs of cautious optimism/the Hembränt (moonshine) kicking in here. It’s probably going to get a bit interesting if Sweden score, but it’s not my stuga.
“That Swedish team is good enough to bother most teams at the WC, but France is one step too far. Swedes seem to have a keen sense of irony though, and realise that they have more wins in the WC than they collected during qualifying.
“For anyone who doesn’t understand the Swedish national anthem btw, it’s typically optimistic, and ends with ‘I want to die in the North’.”
Peter Oh emails: “The Sweden women’s team achieved a third-place finish at their last World Cup, in 2023. Could you ask Julian if he and his bit-chomping Swedish comrades reckon that the achievement will be matched by the Menz, I mean, men’s team?”
I am suspicious Mbappe will be top of this list come full-time.
Colin Livingstone gets in touch to say: :As an Evertonian, I wince every time I hear name of Digne or see his photo, due to the pain of losing such a talented player thanks to the ineptitude of a complete clown of a manager.
“The whole managerial merry-go-round of failure is so baffling.”
Glory days.
Kylian Mbappe is primed.
Julian Menz emails: “I’m sat here in the middle of Sweden with a bunch of heavily fortified Swedes. The mood is what it must have felt like when the aristocrats were queuing up for the Guillotine.
”Hope springs eternal though!”
Matan emails: “Do you give Sweden a prayer today? France could be got at defensively, but I fear Potter’s side will be crushed by the attacking force of Les Bleus.”
I suspect they will get beaten well but they do have an exciting front three. I fear, however, France will give them the runaround at the other end.
I once shook Lucas Digne’s hand at a Michael Jackson tribute night. That’s my only link to tonight’s match.
Wrap your eyeballs around Football Daily.
Starting lineups
France (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Barcola; Mbappe
Subs: Samba, Risser, Gusto, Konate, T Hernandez, L Hernandez, Lacroix, Kone, Kante, Zaire-Emery, Cherki, Akliouche, Thuram, Doue, Mateta
Sweden (3-4-3): Zetterstrom; Lagerbielke, Lindelof, Gudmundsson; Svensson, Stroud, Bergvall, Ayari; Isak, Gyokeres, Elanga,
Subs: V Johansson, Nordfeldt, H Johansson, Ekdal, Starfelt, Smith, Bernardsson, Nygren, Sema, Karlstrom, Svanberg, Zeneli, Nilsson, Ali
I wonder if Elanga will get a start tonight as Potter may consider the extra pace and trying to give the French full-backs somthing to think about.
Sweden coach Graham Potter has said his team would have to produce something special to beat France.
“They have quality all over… They have won the World Cup before and they have a fantastic manager,” Potter said. “An exciting challenge awaits us, and we will have to play the game of our lives, clearly.”
Elsewhere … Jonathan Wilson was in Dallas to see Norway defeat Cote d’Ivoire and set up a clash with Brazil.
Alexander Isak is in attendance.
Mbappe has been impressive thus far but he still has a couple more gears. Will he show them in this match?
This is ruddy impressive from our creative genius Jonny Weeks.
Pre-match reading.
Preamble
Hello one and all!
After a couple of relative shocks on Monday, Sweden could be eyeing another here tonight. There is plenty of quality in Graham Potter’s squad, with the strike pairing of Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres the envy of many countries. If they can align up top, they will cause a lot of problems.
Unfortunately for Potter et al, France possess Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise, forcing a few sleepless nights in the Swedish hotel. Didier Deschamps’s side are the favourites for the tournament in my opinion and they will not be taking their foot off the gas, I am sure.
Let’s hope for a cracker!
