Flashscore brings you all the best moments from the tournament in our daily World Cup highlights feature. Here’s what happened on day 20!
The headlines
The best performance of the day went to France, with the pre-tournament favourites enjoying a 3-0 success over Sweden in New York/New Jersey.
Kylian Mbappe scored two of the goals, including a lovely combination with Michael Olise for the third. Les Bleus outshot the Swedes 25-8 in what was coach Didier Deschamps’ return to the bench following his mother’s passing.
Next for France will be Paraguay, who had caused the massive upset the day before.
Earlier in the day, Erling Haaland was Norway’s hero as he netted four minutes from time to see the Nordic nation past the Ivory Coast 2-1.
The Ivorians, who fell behind shortly before the break, created several chances in the second half before finding their leveller through Amad Diallo. It would not be enough, though, as they failed to mark Haaland on the winning goal, allowing the Manchester City striker to finish from close range.
To wrap up the day, Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 at Estadio Azteca, with first-half goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez doing the job.
The match was delayed by an hour due to lightning in the area, but once the game got underway, El Tri carried much of the play.
Their reward is a first knockout round win since 1986, as they will find out on Wednesday who they will face next between England and DR Congo.
Goal of the day
Mbappe’s second goal for France against Sweden is easily the best pick here. Some lovely build-up between him and Olise reminds everyone why this French team is so terrifying.
The finish from the Real Madrid man was excellent – as one would expect – but what makes this goal even better was the pass in by Olise. The Bayern Munich attacker, who now has five assists in the tournament, split the Swedish defence apart with a delightful ball through to Mbappe.
It left keeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom without a chance of saving it.
Player of the day
Sticking with Mbappe, he was also the best player on the pitch across the three games. Picking up a 9.4 rating based on Flashscore‘s player ratings, he was unplayable against Sweden.
The Frenchman now has 18 goals in 18 appearances at the World Cup, as he continues to vie with Lionel Messi for the overall record in the history of the tournament.
His all-around game was also inexplicably good on the East Coast.
Four key passes to go with his brace show that his teamwork is also on point alongside his vicious threat in front of the goal.
If the World Cup wasn’t scary enough before this performance, they are now.
Best of social media
Baseball and football have been mixing across the States this summer. Think of the ‘Viking row’ at Shea Stadium, or the Scottish fans lighting up Fenway Park.
This sole Mexican fan shouting ‘gol’ at the top of his lungs is another to add to the list of joy this summer.
[infobox id=”4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3″ /]
