France vs Sweden – Match preview and team news
· Yahoo Sports
France begin their World Cup knockout campaign on Tuesday evening against Sweden, with a place in the round of 16 against Paraguay awaiting the winner at New York New Jersey Stadium.
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Didier Deschamps’ side arrive in New Jersey having swept through Group I with maximum points, beating Senegal, Iraq and Norway without losing a single match. Sweden, by contrast, scraped through as one of the eight best third-place teams after finishing third in Group F. France have won four of the last five meetings between the two nations, and Sweden’s task looks harder than ever.
France vs Sweden – Match preview and team news
- Date: Tuesday, 30 June 2026
- Kick-off: 22:00 BST
- Venue: New York New Jersey Stadium
- Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
- Last meeting: France 4–2 Sweden, 17 November 2020, UEFA Nations League
Team news
France
William Saliba is expected to return to the starting lineup, having been rested against Norway as a precautionary measure for a back issue he has managed throughout the season. Deschamps is not believed to have any other injury concerns and is expected to field his strongest available eleven, with Dayot Upamecano partnering Saliba in central defence.
Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot continue as the double pivot, with Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue providing support for Kylian Mbappe. Ousmane Dembele scored a hat-trick against Norway and arrives at the knockouts in exceptional form alongside Mbappe.
Sweden
Graham Potter’s side face a significant defensive reshuffle after Isak Hien was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a hamstring injury sustained against Japan. Victor Lindelof drops back from midfield into central defence to cover the gap.
Lucas Bergvall, who replaced Hien in that game, continues in the middle of the pitch alongside Yasin Ayari. Wing-backs Alexander Bernhardsson and Elliot Stroud are expected to retain their places, with Anthony Elanga, Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak forming the front three.
Form
France
Deschamps’ side have been flawless throughout the group stage, scoring ten goals and conceding only two across victories over Senegal (3–1), Iraq (3–0) and Norway (4–1). Dembele’s hat-trick against a heavily rotated Norway side underlined the depth of attacking talent available beyond Mbappe, who also scored four goals in the group stage.
France have lost only once in their last five matches — a pre-tournament friendly defeat to Ivory Coast — and have not been beaten since. Their only blemish defensively was failing to keep a clean sheet against Norway, despite the Norwegians resting several first-choice players.
Sweden
Potter’s side have shown considerably more inconsistency. A heavy 5–1 win over Tunisia was followed by an equally one-sided 5–1 defeat to the Netherlands, before a goalless stalemate with Japan secured their place in the knockouts as a third-place qualifier.
Sweden have conceded seven goals across their three group matches, a defensive record that will be further tested by the loss of Hien. Their attacking trio of Isak, Gyokeres and Elanga has shown genuine quality throughout, but turning that into results against the tournament’s most in-form side represents their sternest test yet.
Predicted lineups
France predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue; Mbappe
Sweden predicted XI (3-4-2-1 / 3-1-4-2): Zetterstrom; Lagerbielke, Lindelof, Gudmundsson; Bernhardsson, Bergvall, Ayari, Stroud; Elanga, Gyokeres, Isak
How to watch France vs Sweden?
The match will be broadcast live in the United Kingdom on ITV1 and can be streamed on ITVX.
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