Can anyone stop France at the World Cup?Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans react to France’s dominating win over Sweden in the Round of 32 and explain why Les Blues are still in ‘first gear’. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.2:51Now PlayingPaused
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Can anyone stop France at the World Cup?

Alexis Guerreros·Christian PolancoWed, July 1, 2026 at 5:53 PM UTC

Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans react to France’s dominating win over Sweden in the Round of 32 and explain why Les Blues are still in ‘first gear’. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

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Video Transcript

Real quick, France absolutely dominates Sweden.

What'd I say?

Yeah.

What did I say?

I mean, let's be honest.

That's not the hottest of hot takes, but France- I'm not saying You were like But you did the kind of what we're all doing.

We're like, "Anything can happen.

It's the World Cup."

Sweden- Anything did happen.

Can I tell you something?

Nothing happened.

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

Exactly what you said was gonna happen, happened.

But here's the thing, I don't know if you saw this.

Adam Cleary, who, you know, good friend, but he does incredible, work breaking down tactics, he showed the running stats, like, of, like, distances covered, and France was nowhere near the top.

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They haven't even They've been slow walking this whole thing.

I did see this.

They haven't even gotten out of first gear yet.

And they look incredible.

They're scoring essentially three goals a game.

They are so formidable.

If you picked Spain, if you picked anybody else, you should be nervous.

I hope you didn't put money on it.

'Cause France looks like they're gonna gallantly walk through this whole thing.

Yeah.

what they did to, to Sweden was impressive.

Look, Sweden wasn't necessarily the most, you know, the, the biggest force they were gonna face, but man, they made 'em look pedestrian.

Well, I mean, the Look, the first half I thought Sweden held their own for as long as they could.

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Uh- Yeah but I, I- Isak had one or two chances where, I mean, that could've changed the game Isak does not look Ever since his, not even the- He's looking better than he did at the end of the Liverpool season, but he's still not at the level where he was at Newcastle How would I, he st- he, he's not the same.

Yeah.

He is not.

I don't, I don't know if it's, you know, he had an injury going into pre-season, and then obviously he got hurt.

Mm-hmm.

his ankle was broken b- during a tackle.

but he just, he looks, he looks sluggish.

He looks, uh- Yeah just, like, not the same.

I, I, it's hard to explain.

but the Yeah, they, f- I thought Sweden looked okay for the first, I don't know, 30 minutes, but I, I You really have to think about the ease, like you said, like, they g- they're sort of gallantly walking through this World Cup, but the ease that Mbappe's creating and the opportunities that- Look at this, four games, six goals And Oli- and Olise, Michael Olise, to, for me, best player at this World Cup y- by far.

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Can I tell you what Michael Olise is to me for 90 minutes?

Have you ever gone to a big store when you were a kid with your mom, or maybe Mateo does this?

Yeah.

You get a little bit further away from your parents, and then you just, you're constantly looking and then like, "Oh, I see them."

Right, right, right.

And no one else appears, y- you go right for The, he's been doing that to Mbappe for 90 minutes.

No one else is there.

He sees one person.

It's the slow motion running towards your, your loved one who just came back from war in a movie.

He has not- It is constantly looking for Mbappe And Olise has not scored a goal.

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He almost had that, that overhead kick.

Nah.

that would've been incredible.

That would've been the goal of the tournament.

That would've been the goal of the tournament, hit the post.

Can I tell you something?

Didier Deschamps moved Dembele away from the center posi- he won the Ballon d'Or in that spot, and he said, "Hey, my guy, go take over spot in the midfield."

Yeah.

It is absolutely incredible.

The guy deserves a lot of credit for what he's been able to do.

This France team looks insane.

Now, how do they handle adversity, and will they find any?

I don't know.