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Mbappé Scored Twice, Olise Set Up Everything, and I Cannot Stop Thinking He Looks Like My Nephew

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By Sumi
MetLife Stadium, packed with blue, white, and red.

I need to get something off my chest before we talk about the actual match: Kylian Mbappé looks exactly like my nephew Aaron. Exactly. Even Jinguk agrees. Google Mbappé and put them side by side and get back to me.

My nephew Aaron

Okay. Now the soccer.

France 3, Sweden 0 — and Two Records Fell in the Process

France dismantled Sweden 3-0 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to advance to the Round of 16. On paper that's a comfortable win. In practice, two individual performances made it worth staying up for.

The crowd knew what they were watching.

Mbappé scored twice — a brace, in soccer terms, meaning two goals by one player in a single match. That brings his career World Cup total to 18 goals, one behind Lionel Messi's all-time record of 19. He's also tied Messi's goal count for this specific tournament (6 apiece), which reignites the Golden Boot conversation — the award given to the tournament's top scorer.

Jinguk's read on this: "He's not just chasing a record. He's chasing the record. That's different pressure."

The Quieter Story: Olise Is Having a Historic Tournament

The tension before the goals arrived.

Michael Olise didn't score, but he set up both of France's second-half goals — the pass that found Bradley Barcola in the 53rd minute, and the ball that gave Mbappé his second. That's two assists in one match, bringing his tournament total to five.

Here's the number that stopped me: five assists in a single World Cup is the second-most since 1966. The only player with more is Pelé, who had six in 1970.

Jinguk, who tracks this stuff obsessively during World Cup season, said it plainly: "Everyone's watching the goal-scorer. The smart ones are watching Olise."

Vocabulary, Since That's Half the Point of This Blog

  • Brace — a player scoring two goals in one match
  • Assist — the pass that directly leads to a goal
  • Golden Boot — the award for the tournament's top overall scorer

What's Next: France Plays Paraguay on the Fourth of July

Next stop, Philadelphia — on America's biggest holiday.


France's Round of 16 opponent is Paraguay, and the match falls on July 4th, 5 PM Eastern, in Philadelphia. If France wins, the quarterfinal (against either Canada or Morocco) is set for July 9th in Boston.

Which means this weekend in the US is about to be genuinely chaotic: a heat wave peaking through the holiday, fireworks everywhere, and now a World Cup knockout match kicking off on the exact same day. Jinguk has already claimed the couch for the afternoon.

Sumi | NYC + Hudson Valley | @miguktv on YouTube

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