Tribal Football

Neville: France know exactly why they're World Cup favourites

France captain Kylan Mbappe at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
France captain Kylan Mbappe at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Reuters

France powered into the 2026 FIFA World Cup last 16 with an emphatic 3-0 Round of 32 win over Sweden thanks to two goals from talismanic captain Kylan Mbappe in New Jersey.

The MetLfe Stadium - which will also host the final on July 19 witnessed another display of French attacking excellence at the tournament - as Didier Deschamps' team stretched their lead as the top-scoring team in the tournament with 13 goals so far.

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Paraguay await in the next phase and France could move forward to reach a third successive final in the weeks ahead if they maintain their excellent form in North America.

Mbappe has been the guiding light for France and former England international Gary Neville admitted it's difficult to see how any team stops their pursuit of a third World Cup.

"It's a real statement (beating Sweden). We know they're the favourites for the tournament, but what we saw was precision, devastation.

"I always look at games from a defensive perspective - those four (attacking players: Mbappe, Olise, Dembele and Barcola) that started the game will cause nightmares for every single defender at this tournament and I don't know how you stop that.

"It's a level above. Brazil won in the last minute, Germany and the Netherlands went out. They're just showing everybody in this round how to do it. Everything they do is emphatic. It's brilliant to watch and it's the best performance so far in the tournament and they know they're favourites. 

"They're so far ahead of every other team in terms of level." 

France are many World Cup fans favourites to win the trophy, but they are likely to face a quarter final clash with Morocco, who they beat in the semis four years' ago.

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