USA defeats Bosnia-Herzegovina, first World Cup knockout win since 2002

Kylian Mbappé and France are sizzling - and not just because of MetLife Stadium's broiling conditions.

Mbappé had his third two-goal game of this World Cup and set a career scoring record for the tournament's knockout rounds, leading Les Bleus over Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a round of 16 match against Paraguay.

"I personally haven't seen a better team," Sweden coach Graham Potter said. "The quality they have all over the pitch and then the options for them off the bench are very, very strong, so they've got as good a chance as anybody, I would suggest."

France's 27-year-old star scored the go-ahead goal with a brilliant crossover step in the 45th minute and added his sixth goal of the tournament in the 74th to tie Lionel Messi for the tournament scoring lead. He has 18 goals in 18 World Cup games, one behind the Argentine's career scoring record of 19 in 29 matches.

In between, Bradley Barcola had a 53rd-minute goal for France, which became the first nation to score three or more goals in five consecutive World Cup matches.

"I'm very aware of who I am, how I play, what I shall do, but it's not just about me," Mbappé said through a translator. "The entire team is aware of what should be done. It is a new competition that has started today. We did play well, but we were timid. We could have done better at the beginning."

Mbappé's 10 knockout round goals are two more than the previous high by Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo.

France coach Didier Deschamps bowed when Mbappé came to the bench after he was substituted in the 85th minute.

"We're on a mission - so am I with them," Deschamps said through a translator.

France has outscored opponents 13-2. Michael Olise has five assists, the most in a World Cup since Germany's Thomas Hassler had five in 1994.

"They are skilled at knowing when to change the pace and increase it, when to possess the ball, went to fall back," Sweden captain Victor Lindelöf said through a translator.

Seeking to reach its third straight World Cup final, France plays Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia. The winner advances to a quarterfinal against Canada or Morocco five days later at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), sunny and humid at the 5 p.m. kickoff with poor air quality at the site of the July 19 final. Many fans in the club areas stayed inside their air-conditioned suites.

France outshot Sweden 25-7 in the first World Cup meeting between the nations, including 15-3 in the first half.

Mbappé hit a post in the 32nd minute, raising both hands in disgust, and France nearly went ahead four minutes later on Olise's spectacular bicycle kick from just inside the penalty area, which also clanked off a post.

"I said I think we needed a couple of miracles. We had a couple, but we ran out of them," Potter said. "So we needed a few more."

Mbappé scored after goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström tipped Olise's shot just outside the post.

Olise played a short corner kick to Ousmane Dembélé, who passed to Mbappé near the byline. Mbappé took a crossover step to get around Viktor Gyökeres and from just outside the 6-yard box sent a diagonal shot inside the far post.

Mbappé ran up the center of the field to celebrate, colliding with Dembélé, and jogged to the bench to hug Deschamps, who returned for the match after going to France for his mother's funeral.

"He knows that he will never be alone with us, and we will support him," Mbappé said.

Gustaf Lagerbielke lost the ball ahead of France's second goal. Aurélien Tchouaméni passed to Olise, who nutmegged Lagerbielke, and Barcola took a centering touch and sent the ball past Zetterström's outstretched right hand.

Mbappé entertained the crowd with a backheel pass to Barcola in the buildup to France's third goal, the 62nd of his international career. Barcola passed to Olise, who sent the ball forward as Mbappé sprinted into the penalty area, took a touch and fired the ball inside the far post.

"We continue to deliver great performances," Mbappé said.

A crowd of 80,663 raised the record total for the expanded 104-match tournament above 5 million. A majority of fans wore France's blue, with a pocket in Sweden's yellow at one end.

"I have no complaints to the players whatsoever. I said to them after the game I don't think it's a disgrace to lose to France," Potter said. "For us it's about using this as a foundation to go forward and to be proud of what we've done so far."

Speaking just after the final whistle, Mbappé wasn't quite ready to turn his attention to Paraguay just yet.

"I'm looking forward to the changing room and the AC," he said.

The 40-year wait is over. Mexicans had learned to live with defeats in the knockout stages of the World Cup. On seven occasions, El Tri fans were left heartbroken at this stage.

Not anymore.

Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored within a nine-minute span in the first half and Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night to break a four-decade drought in the knockout stage and progress to the round of 16.

Quiñones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and Jiménez added a goal in the 31st for the Mexicans, who had not won a knockout-stage match since defeating Bulgaria in the round of 16 when they hosted the tournament in 1986. Mexico coach Javier Aguirre was one of the starting midfielders in that '86 team.

"It means a lot to me because I am one of those who could not progress in the knockout stage," Aguirre said. "We are in the round of 16 and it is happening a great connection with the fans. We are like a family. It is spectacular."

Mexico lost seven consecutive times at that same stage from 1994 to 2018 and didn't advance past the group stage in 2022.

Aguirre, who returned as Mexico's head coach in August of 2024, was an assistant in 1994 and was the coach in 2002 and 2010.

"We will be on high alert from here until Sunday. We will try to have the players recover from this and we will see if we are able to win again," Aguirre said.

In the expanded, 48-team World Cup, there's an extra round in the knockout phase - the round of 32 was inserted for this tournament between the group stage and the round of 16.

Quiñones goals

A third goal in the tournament makes Quiñones El Tri's second-highest scorer in World Cup history behind Luis "Matador" Hernández and Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, who scored four each.

Quiñones, who was the scoring leader in the Saudi Pro League last season, has become the spark in the attack that Mexico lacked in previous World Cups.

"I am just happy with the result, that is all that matters now," said Quiñones, who is playing in his first World Cup with Mexico.

The 29-year-old forward arrived in the country from Colombia at age 17 and became a naturalized citizen in 2023.

"Life is about struggle and fight until you get what you want," he said, "and I am taking full advantage of the opportunity that I got."

Jiménez scored his second goal of the tournament and has 47 with the national team to break a tie with Jared Borgetti. He is five away from tying "Chicharito" Hernández as the all-time leading scorer for Mexico.

Mexico will play another home match Sunday against the winner of Wednesday's match between England and Congo.

Playing at the iconic Azteca Stadium, the Mexican squad boasts an undefeated record across 10 World Cup matches. Mexico has just two official losses at the venue - the last being a World Cup qualifying defeat to Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.

With the win, Mexico extended its unbeaten run to 12 games, dating back to a friendly loss against Paraguay in November.

Mexico also became the first CONCACAF side to eliminate a team from CONMEBOL in a World Cup knockout match. Teams from South America won the previous five meetings.

The match started one hour after the original scheduled time due to a thunderstorm.

It was the second match of the tournament delayed by weather. A storm during the France-Iraq match at Philadelphia on June 22 caused a 2-hour, 11-minute suspension at the end of the first half.

Fans throw a big fiesta

After the final whistle, celebrations erupted alongside the Reforma avenue, where thousands of Mexicans gathered for the festivities.

"This is so exciting," Denisse Ildefonso, a 20-year-old cook and avid soccer fan, said as she jumped up and down shouting "We did it! We did it!" amid the green, white, and red lights.

Families and groups of friends erupted in cheers, while some fans tossed others into the air amidst the roar of the crowd.

"I feel so proud to be Mexican," shouted Erick Rubio, a 22-year-old college student.

The scene played out across dozens of neighborhoods, bars, and parking lots transformed into soccer fan zones to honor an undefeated national team.

FIFA Fan Festival Houston has reached capacity and has temporarily paused entry ahead of the Round of 32 match between Mexico and Ecuador, organizers announced.

"Houston is ready to go for tonight's match!" FIFA organizers said in a social media post announcing the pause in entry. The announcement also came in as the match between France and Sweden is well underway.

Organizers said that entry will resume as space becomes available. They encouraged people to visit local businesses in East Downtown for additional dining and entertainment locations.

If the World Cup was the NCAA basketball tournament, then teams like Morocco and the Netherlands would have some serious anger toward the selection and seeding committee. England, Mexico, Portugal and Spain might not be all that happy, either.

Lionel Messi and Argentina, on the other hand, probably wouldn't complain much about their potential path to the World Cup final four.

The bracket is set for the knockout stage of the World Cup. There was no selection committee; slots were predetermined - Group A winner on this line, Group D runner-up on this line, etc. - so it wasn't exactly like how the NCAA tournaments go. And FIFA doesn't reseed like some sports, so a couple lower seeds are certain to get into at least the Round of 16.

So, when taking the 32 qualifiers for the knockout stage and ranking them like it's an NCAA tournament - essentially seeding the field 1 to 32 based on the FIFA live rankings entering Sunday - it's easy to see why some "regions" might be tougher to navigate than others.

A breakdown of the World Cup bracket:

Foxborough Region

- Quarterfinal: July 9 at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

- Round of 32 matchups: No. 12 Germany vs. No. 27 Paraguay, No. 2 France vs. No. 26 Sweden, No. 29 South Africa vs. No. 25 Canada (won 1-0 by Canada on Sunday), No. 7 Netherlands vs. No. 6 Morocco (won 3-2 by Morocco after a 1-1 draw).

- Outlook: Netherlands vs. Morocco in the Round of 32 means that at least one of the seven highest-ranked teams left in the tournament won't even get to the Round of 16. France and Germany - perennial European powers - could meet in the Round of 16. And Canada (the first team through to the Round of 16 after winning the knockout stage opener over South Africa on Sunday) might have to change time zones twice on its way to the quarterfinals, while Germany, Paraguay, France and Sweden will all be in either Massachusetts, New Jersey or Pennsylvania in the Rounds of 32 and 16.

- If the seeds hold: France would play Morocco in the quarterfinal.

Inglewood Region

- Quarterfinal: July 10 at Inglewood, California.

- Round of 32 matchups: No. 8 Portugal vs. No. 13 Croatia, No. 3 Spain vs. No. 18 Austria, No. 14 United States vs. No. 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 10 Belgium vs. No. 17 Senegal.

- Outlook: The U.S. gets one of the lowest-ranked teams left in the tournament to open the Round of 32 and would remain in the Pacific time zone until the semifinals. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal did not get an easy draw at all, with Croatia right off the bat and then potentially Spain in the Round of 16. (Can't imagine Spain is too thrilled with this, either.) Belgium vs. Senegal is in Seattle, and the winner will stay there to play the U.S. match winner; that's a big break for weary legs.

- If the seeds hold: Spain would play Belgium in the quarterfinal.

Miami Gardens Region

- Quarterfinal: July 11 at Miami Gardens, Florida.

- Round of 32 matchups: No. 5 Brazil vs. No. 16 Japan, No. 24 Ivory Coast vs. No. 19 Norway, No. 9 Mexico vs. No. 20 Ecuador, No. 4 England vs. No. 28 Congo.

- Outlook: Mexico and England will be heavily favored in their Round of 32 matches, then would be in line to go head-to-head in the Round of 16 - in what would be a road game at Mexico City for England. And Mexico is one of only two teams not to surrender a goal in the group stage, with Spain being the other. Brazil gets a bit of an easier path to the quarterfinals, opening with Japan and then - if it wins - drawing the Ivory Coast-Norway winner.

- If the seeds hold: Brazil would play England in the quarterfinal.

Kansas City Region

- Quarterfinal: July 11 at Kansas City, Missouri.

- Round of 32 matchups: No. 1 Argentina vs. No. 31 Cape Verde, No. 22 Australia vs. No. 21 Egypt, No. 15 Switzerland vs. No. 23 Algeria, No. 11 Colombia vs. No. 32 Ghana.

- Outlook: Again, there is no "selection committee," but if there was it would have gotten this one right by putting the best goalscorer in Argentina's Lionel Messi against the tournament's best story in Cape Verde in the Round of 32. And Messi gets to be at home in Miami Gardens, a few miles from Inter Miami's stadium for that matchup. Australia or Egypt awaits the Argentina match winner, Switzerland-Algeria has potential for a lot of goals, and Colombia faces a Ghana team with nothing to lose.

- If the seeds hold: Argentina would play Colombia in the quarterfinal.