France Cruise into the Round of 16 as Haaland Keeps Scoring and Mexico March On

France, Norway and Mexico all booked their places in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after deserved victories over Sweden, Ivory Coast and Ecuador respectively. The day also saw Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland continue their outstanding goalscoring form, while Mexico finally ended a knockout-stage hoodoo that had haunted them for decades.

Mbappé Draws Level with Messi

France produced another commanding display, defeating Sweden 3-0 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to continue their impressive attacking form and reinforce their status as one of the favourites to lift the World Cup.

Michael Olise orchestrated France’s attacking play with a series of incisive passes and intelligent movement, while Kylian Mbappé converted his side’s superiority into goals by scoring twice. The brace took his tally to six goals at the tournament, drawing him level with Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot standings. It also increased Mbappé’s overall World Cup tally to 18 goals, keeping him firmly in the hunt to rewrite the tournament’s scoring records. Bradley Barcola added the third goal to complete another convincing victory for Les Bleus and seal their place in the next round.

The victory sets up a Round of 16 encounter with Paraguay, who produced one of the tournament’s biggest surprises by eliminating Germany on penalties.

France also set a new World Cup record, becoming the first team in tournament history to score three or more goals in five consecutive matches. Their devastating attacking trio of Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise has been central to that achievement, with Olise also moving clear at the top of the tournament’s assist charts with five assists.

Norway Continue Their Impressive Run

In Dallas, Norway continued their outstanding World Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast, securing the nation’s first-ever win in the knockout stages of the competition.

Antonio Nusa gave Norway the lead shortly before half-time, but substitute Amad Diallo levelled the score for Ivory Coast in the 74th minute to set up a tense finish.

The decisive moment came in the 86th minute when Erling Haaland scored the winner to send Norway into the Round of 16.

The goal also earned Haaland another place in the record books, making him the first player in 72 years to score in each of his first three World Cup matches. He now has five goals at the tournament, leaving him second in the Golden Boot race behind Messi and Mbappé.

The Manchester City striker also extended his remarkable scoring streak to 13 consecutive competitive international matches, taking his tally to 25 goals during that extraordinary run.

Hosts Continue Their Journey

In Mexico City, the hosts finally ended one of the longest-standing frustrations in their World Cup history by defeating Ecuador 2-0 at the Azteca Stadium to record their first knockout-stage victory in 40 years.

Kick-off was delayed by an hour because of heavy rain in the Mexican capital, but the interruption had little impact on the home side, who produced an impressive display and wrapped up the result thanks to goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez.

The victory carries enormous historical significance for Mexico, ending a wait that stretched back to the 1986 World Cup, when they defeated Bulgaria on their way to reaching the quarter-finals.

Mexico will continue their campaign at the Azteca Stadium, where they will face the winner of the Round of 32 clash between England and the Democratic Republic of Congo.