World Cup Now: Mbappe the man in France’s win over Denmark

France became the first team to qualify for knockout stage of the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Denmark Saturday at Stadium 974. Former United States men’s national team players DaMarcus Beasley, Jimmy Conrad and Sacha Kljestan discuss their big three takeaways from the match on “World Cup Now.”

Beasley: France has a championship mentality

That’s what you need, and they’ve had that for 5-6 years. This game is the perfect example: They started off well, they had a lot of good chances, but then you look at the second half, when Denmark started to get a little more confidence. Some teams will just sit back and take a draw. France were calm and collected. They wanted to win this game. They wanted to get six points so they can rest some guys, I’m sure. This is what it takes to win even when you play at your best.

Conrad: France did just enough

They’re going to run into what Denmark did a lot: teams sitting back and putting a lot of numbers in the defensive third to try to stop the French from doing what they want to do. But at some point Denmark does have to stretch themselves and try to win the game unless they’re playing for the draw. They did just enough, and we saw that in 2018 as well, where they had these moments of just finding what they needed to find. They did an excellent job of that again tonight.

Kljestan: Kylian Mbappé, I love you

You are the best player in the world right now, and I just enjoy you watching you play. When he’s on the field, it’s must-see TV. When you’re watching Mbappé, just sit back and enjoy it. Every time he touches the ball, I’m on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do. He’s a superstar, he makes me love soccer, he makes me love being here at this World Cup and I just can’t wait to keep watching him play.

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