France secured top spot in the group with a 4-1 win over Norway, meaning they will likely face Sweden in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
They have two teams that can win the World Cup. They can start with Olise, Mbappe and Dembele. Then they can replace all of them and bring in Barcola, Cherki and Marcus Thuram as well. They have an incredible breadth, says expert and former coach Hasse Backe.
Not always involved
Kylian Mbappe did not disappoint in the group stage. France's all-time leading scorer netted four goals and led his team to top spot. If the Blues are to have a chance of progressing further in the knockouts, the French goal machine must be stopped.
You can't stop Mbappe by just focusing on him; you have to starve him of balls to work with and stop the play early. He's not always that involved; he drifts around and makes plays up there sometimes. But if he gets space behind the back line to run on, it's over. Then you have to force France to play as much sideways as possible - that has to be an ingredient if Sweden is to have a chance.
It's about sticking together.
The focus must be on keeping the team together across the pitch, according to Hasse Backe.
It's pointless to try to press France high up the pitch; they can play their way out of most situations, and if we get too high, Mbappe will give us major problems in depth. The requirement must be a very tight team; as soon as we get spread out there will be problems. That's the discipline it's all about - compactness between the team parts and mutual distance between the players.
