Sweden Must Play Perfectly to Beat France in the 2026 World Cup

Sweden forward Viktor Gyökeres said the team must play near‑perfect defense if they hope to upset the heavy favourites France in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match.

Sweden reached the knockout stage by finishing third in Group F.

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From the Swedish training camp in Dallas, Gyökeres told AFP that while the challenge against the Blågult is enormous, the squad remains confident.

Although Sweden’s group stage was uneven—highlighted by a 5‑1 win over Tunisia and a 5‑1 defeat to the Netherlands—Gyökeres said the team relies on the notion that underdogs can topple the strongest sides.

“We will have to be at our best, we have to do our defensive organisation almost perfect and then of course to take the chances we will get,” he said.

“We have our confidence. I think we have to believe in ourselves.

We’ve seen in a lot of games this tournament that you can win games (as underdogs). You can do well even though you play against the best teams.

Of course we might be the underdogs, but we still believe in ourselves.”

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Asked by AFP about the prospect of facing Arsenal team‑mate William Saliba, he said: “I’m looking forward to see him and to play against him, it’s gonna be fun.”

France made a statement in the group phase to show why they are one of the favourites, winning all three matches with Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé both scoring four times so far.