France reached the World Cup round of 32 by winning all three of their Group I matches, finishing with a perfect nine points and a +8 goal difference.

They opened with a 3-1 win over Senegal, powered by two Kylian Mbappe goals - including one long-range stunner.

Mbappe struck twice again in a 3-0 victory over Iraq, which broke the French all-time goalscoring record.

With their spot in the next round already secured, France still closed the group in style by defeating Norway 4-1, thanks to an Ousmane Dembele hat‑trick and a late Desire Doue goal.

Certainly a strong start for France.

After waiting almost a century to meet at a World Cup, the two nations will finally cross paths on football’s biggest stage.

Since the first World Cup in 1930, France and Sweden have been regulars at the tournament, with Les Bleus playing 76 matches and the Scandinavians featuring in 54.

Despite that long shared history, they’ve never met at a World Cup - but they’re not complete strangers.

They drew 1–1 in the group stage of Euro 1992, with Sweden on home soil.

Twenty years later, Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced a stunning acrobatic volley in a 2-0 win during Euro 2012.

More recently, the sides faced each other in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, each winning 2-1 in their home fixtures.

Image source, Getty Images

After conceding seven goals in the World Cup group stage, Graham Potter has a huge decision on who is best to keep out a French team who have scored for fun at this tournament.

Kristoffer Nordfeldt didn’t have much to do in the 5-1 win over Tunisia, making one save from two shots on target, the most notable being a catch to deny a cheeky chip from Hannibal Mejbri.

He also made an impressive close range save from an offside shot by Slimane.

But in the 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands, the AIK keeper ended up picking the ball out of his net more times than he made saves - two stops from seven shots on target.

Potter then turned to Derby County’s Jacob Widell Zetterström for the final group‑stage match against Japan.

Two moments stood out for the Championship keeper on his World Cup debut, a sharp tip around the post from Keito Nakamura’s effort, and a quick reaction stop from Daichi Kamada, even if the latter came from an offside play.

So Chris Sutton does not expect Sweden to pose too much of an obstacle to France and "can't see anyone stopping" them from winning a third world title.

Chris Sutton
Former England forward

Image source, Getty Images

Sweden sat in against Japan to get the result they needed to get out of their group and I am sure they will stay deep again here to try to stay in the game.

It won't work, though. At this moment in time, I can't see anyone stopping France with their firepower.

Sutton's prediction: 4-0

AI's prediction: 2-0

So it's going to be hot tonight for Didier Deschamps' side when they face Sweden in New Jersey, but Opta still have France pegged as quite convincing favourites to win this World Cup.

At this point, we want to know if you think they will live up to expectations.

And if France are not your pick, then who do you think will be crowned world champions?

Send us your thoughts using the 'Get Involved' button.

Thanks.

Simon King & Darren Bett
BBC Weather

Not all of the round of 32 matches in the World Cup will be affected by the heatwave but there will be some notable games to keep an eye on.

England's game with DR Congo in Atlanta on Wednesday will feel hot and humid outside of the air-conditioned stadium.

Some of the matches where the heat could be an issue are:

• Tuesday 30 June - France v Sweden, New Jersey - 30C (86F)
• Thursday 2 July (overnight Thursday into Friday for UK viewers) - Portugal v Croatia, Toronto - 31C (88F)
• Friday 3 July - Argentina v Cape Verde, Miami - 31C (88F)
• Friday 3 July (early Saturday for UK viewers) - Colombia v Ghana, Kansas City - 32C (90F)

The games on Friday in Miami and Kansas City could be especially uncomfortable as the high humidity here mean it feels hotter than the actual temperature, feeling up to 40C (104F).

In the official measure of how heat and humidity affects the human body - known as Wet Bulb Global Temperature (WBGT) - both these matches may have an index close to the threshold that Fifpro considers it too unsafe to play.

Simon King & Darren Bett
BBC Weather

With 'feels like' temperatures up to 45C (113F) in parts of the United States this week, some World Cup matches could have heat indexes exceeding the threshold where global players' union Fifpro consider it too unsafe for play.

Dangerous heat is building across the US and Canada, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

With air temperatures widely in the high 30s Celsius and close to 40C (104F), accompanied by high humidity, it will make the weather very uncomfortable with possible health-related impacts.

Temperature records could even be broken in some eastern States at the end of the week.

A large heatwave will intensify as the week progresses, covering much of central and eastern US states and through much of Canada.

Temperatures in excess of 32C (90F) are widely expected.

Add in the humidity and it will actually feel like temperatures are up to 46C (115F) across portions of the Southern Great Plains, mid-Mississippi valley and eventually into parts of the mid-Atlantic, according to the NWS.

Overnight temperatures may not fall below 20C (70F) - classed as a "tropical night" by meteorologists.

The extreme heat will also affect eastern Canada with temperatures forecast to be up to 10C (18F) above average in Ontario and Quebec.

Stick with us as we build up to the next three matches of the last 32...

But first, we have a weather warning.

Similar to the UK last week, temperatures are going to soar.

World Cup

So we have had four of the 16 ties in the round of 32.

Canada, Brazil, Paraguay and Morocco have made it through.

Here are the remaining matches in the first knockout round of this extended World Cup:

Tuesday, 30 June

• Ivory Coast v Norway (Dallas, 18:00)
• France v Sweden (New Jersey, 22:00)

Wednesday, 01 July

• Mexico v Ecuador (Mexico City, 02:00)
• England v DR Congo (Atlanta, 17:00)
• Belgium v Senegal (Seattle, 21:00)

Thursday, 02 July

• USA v Bosnia-Herzegovinia (San Francisco, 01:00)
• Spain v Austria (Los Angeles, 20:00)

Friday, 03 July

• Portugal v Croatia (Toronto, 00:00)
• Switzerland v Algeria (Vancouver, 04:00)
• Australia v Egypt (Dallas, 19:00)
• Argentina v Cape Verde (Miami, 23:00)

Saturday, 04 July

• Colombia v Ghana (Kansas City, 02:30)

For your information, France are the favourites to win the World Cup, according to Opta.

They take on Sweden at 22:00 BST tonight (Tuesday).

Here's the top five:

France - 22.47%

Argentina - 15.90%

Spain - 13.20%

Brazil - 11.29%

England - 9.32%

Will Mbappe and Deschamps get their hands on the World Cup trophy again like they did in 2018?

Image source, Getty Images

After beating Japan, Brazil will face Ivory Coast or Norway in the last 16. Those two meet at 18:00 BST today (Tuesday).

Opta give Brazil a 65.73% of reaching the quarter final - where they could meant England, DR Congo, Ecuador or Mexico - and 38.46% of reaching the semis - where Argentina could lie in wait.

They are 21.97% likely to reach the final and have a 11.29% chance of winning their sixth World Cup.

Do you think Carlo Ancelotti will take Brazil all the way?

Image source, Getty Images

Well, I don't see any tears...

Brazil's second-half fightback was too much for some inside Houston Stadium, though...

ITV pundit Roy Keane was certainly blown away by Brazil's second-half performance: "What a game. I thought that second half was fantastic...I'm telling you, their spirit and fight is as good as any of those previous [Brazil] teams. They also had brilliant quality."

In fact, Brazil completed 210 passes in the final third against Japan, which is their highest tally in a World Cup match since records began in 1966.

It is fair to say Brazil were stifled in the first half and Japan deserved their lead.

But the overall stats tell a different story and add further context to their second-half dominance as Japan sat back, inviting pressure, which finally told...