Erling Haaland strikes late as Norway down Côte d'Ivoire
France swat aside Sweden, with Kylian Mbappe taking his all-time tally to 18 goals
Mexico host Ecuador to round out the day's action
It was another day on which the stars came out to play at the . Things began with Erling Haaland maintaining his record of scoring in each match he has played at the tournament as he struck late to down Côte d'Ivoire in Dallas.
France then swept aside Sweden, with Kylian Mbappe raising the stakes set by the big Norwegian. The France captain's brace - his third of the tournament - moved him to within one goal of and also took him top of the , ahead of the Argentinian. A pair of Michael Olise assists made it a tournament-high five with the French playing some dazzling football in New York New Jersey.
Few players have made the kind of impact in their maiden World Cup tournament as Erling Haaland has in North America and, even if not at his clinical best in Dallas, he once again proved the difference-maker. Before then a stunning strike from starlet Antonio Nusa had put Norway ahead late in the opening half as the youngster befuddled a pair of Ivorian defenders and then guided a shot into the top corner of Yahia Fofana's goal.
It was an equally outrageous piece of skill from Amad Diallo that drew Côte d'Ivoire level with a touch over a quarter-of-an-hour to play before Haaland had his moment. An off-balance Oscar Bobb threaded a pinpoint pass to Patrick Berg, who squared it for Norway's No9 to side-foot his shot past Fofana without the greatest deal of conviction.
The sheepish celebration said it all, but none of the rowing Norwegian fans were bothered how it was scored as their nation won a knockout match for the first time. That tees up a meeting with Brazil in New York New Jersey on 5 July.
France were irresistible in the Big Apple as they rained down wave-after-wave of attack on the Sweden goal. Having seen Kylian Mbappe and then Michael Olise, with a spectacular overhead effort, strike the base of the both posts, they finally went ahead on the stroke of half-time. Ousmane Dembele released Mbappe, who danced past a couple of Swedish defenders and drilled the ball into the far corner of Jacob Zetterstrom’s goal.
Another of the team’s galaxy of stars doubled the lead early in the second term, with Olise the provider for Bradley Barcola’s well-struck effort. A second Olise assist for a second Mbappe goal pushed the France captain to within one of Lionel Messi’s all-time mark and left him with an astonishing goal-a-game ratio from his 18 World Cup appearances.
Erling Haaland has hit the target 60 times in 53 matches for his country, and has now scored in his first three appearances on the world stage.
Kylian Mbappe has scored a World Cup record 10 knockout-round goals.
1 July (all times local) 12:00 (Atlanta) 13:00 (Seattle) 17:00 (San Francisco Bay Area)
Sources: FIFA Official
