France vs Sweden: World Cup Round of 32 preview, predictions & bet builder tips

• Fixture: France vs Sweden

• Competition: World Cup - Round of 32

• Date: Tuesday, 30 June, 2026

• Kick-off: 10pm BST

• Venue: New York New Jersey Stadium

• How to watch: ITV

Our prediction: France 3-1 Sweden

France

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan / Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez / Tchouameni, Rabiot / Dembele, Olise, Doue / Mbappe

Sweden

Our predicted XI (3-4-3): Zetterstrom / Lagerbielke, Lindelof, Gudmundsson / Bernhardsson, Bergvall, Ayari, Stroud / Elanga, Gyokeres, Isak

France confirmed their status as outright favourites to win the World Cup with a dominant 4-1 win in their final Group I match against Norway, albeit the Scandinavians played a second-string XI. Les Bleus won all three of their group games and Didier Deschamps appears well placed to guide them to a third consecutive World Cup final, with Kylian Mbappe spearheading a fearsome and fluid front four. Mbappe is a leading candidate for both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball.

Sweden qualified for the knockout stages as one of the eight best third-placed teams, after picking up 4 points from their three Group F games. They started strongly with a 5-1 win against Tunisia, before suffering a defeat by the same scoreline to the Netherlands and drawing 1-1 with Japan in their final match. The Swedes have plenty of Premier League quality, including a dangerous strike partnership of Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres.

Manager Graham Potter has overseen an uptick in performances and results since he took the Sweden job, but this is still a team that failed to win a single qualifying game and made it to the World Cup via the Nations League. There should be too much of a gulf in class between them and France, who look the team to beat in North America. We're predicting a 3-1 win for France against Sweden.

In line with our 3-1 prediction, we're selecting over 2.5 goals as the next leg of our France vs Sweden bet builder. There have been over 2.5 goals in each of France's last twelve international fixtures, while six of Sweden's last seven games have gone over that number. With the attacking firepower on display for each side, we feel confident that it'll happen again.

France's depth in attacking areas is truly frightening, with the likes of Rayan Cherki and Bradley Barcola struggling for game time behind Mbappe, Michael Olise, Desire Doue and reigning Ballon D'Or winner Ousmane Dembele. After an unusually quiet performance in the opener against Senegal, Dembele came to the party with a goal and assist against Iraq before putting Norway to the sword with a stunning first-half hat-trick. The PSG forward appears to be fully up and running, and we're tipping Dembele to score in France's last 32 clash against Sweden.

Alexander Isak appears to be finally returning to the sort of form that led Liverpool to spend a British-record transfer fee on him in last summer. The former Newcastle striker contributed with a goal and three assists in the group stage, and could cause France problems on the break along with Anthony Elanga and Viktor Gyokeres. Isak had at least one shot on target in all the group games, and we're backing him to continue that streak with another in the round of 32.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.