If the first day(s) of the Round of 32 featured some very dramatic but less than stellar soccer, yesterday's soccer was mostly fantastic with a side of late drama.

Mexico and France cruised into the Round of 16 with comprehensive wins while Norway used a late combination of brilliance from their two superstars to overcome the Ivory Coast.

El Tri came flying out of the gates, with early chances from youngster Gilberto Mora and veteran Raul Jimenez in the opening minutes,break through but it was Ecuador who had the first moment of true danger when John Yeboah struck the woodwork after a nifty nutmeg at the top of the box in the 18th minute.

Not long after, Mexico would break throughover-the-top when Julian Quinones played a one-two with Roberto Alvarado inside his own half and beating the offside trap with the centerline. Quinones galloped forward into acres of space before cutting back and blasting home the opener into the top near corner.

Not even ten minutes later, Mexico doubled their advantage when a Raul Jimenez tried a nifty rainbow to free up space down the right wing. The move worked but only because Ecuador turned the ball over right back to the El Tri striker, who cut inside and worked the ball to Quinones, stumbled but continued his run and slotted home the return pass and that was all the offense Mexico would need.

An absurd stat to just drive home that Ecuador did not really have it on this day, just 1-of-7 shooting and a slight edge in possession with Kevin Rodriguez's 74th minute chance on a half volley after collecting an over-the-top, cross being their best chance to get back into this one.

Even if Ecuador found one, they never seemed likely to find a second and Piero Hincapie's red card in stoppage time for covering his mouth in conversation would have made things very difficult for Ecuador in stoppage time.

I mean, what else can you say at this point about this France team. They look like a juggernaut right now and try as they might, Sweden just had no answer for them.

Though the Swedes nearly held out until halftime, and maybe could have used the respite to shore up their lines, Kylian Mbappe is inevitable and a cutting solo run inside the yellow and blue box saw him blast home the opener into the far post netting just before halftime to ensure the French had a 1-0 at the break.

Not even ten minutes after the restart, France had doubled their lead as Bradley Barcola slotted home from the simplest of entry passes by Michael Olise at the top of the box. Mbappe finished off the night in the 74th, combining again with Olise on a wonderful back cut to unlock the defense and find the far corner.

Mbappe now has six goals, tied with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot, and Olise a tournament-leading five assists.

Sweden were not hopeless in this match, but they were a little wasteful on the handful of chances they did get. Jacob Zetterstrom was immense in goal as the Derby County keeper recorded nine saves on the night with several of them in the spectacular category.

A pair of spectacular goals from Norway's Antonio Nusa in the first half, a delightful right-footed curler, cancelled out by a solo weaving run from Amad Diallo in the second half as these two teams went back-and-forth trying to find the next goal.

But five minutes from regulation time, Norway created a sequence of world-class brilliance. Substitute Oscar Bobb played in a streaking Patrick Berg into the box, whose cut-back pass found the one and only Erling Haaland on the doorstep. Yes, his shot absolutely was scuffed on the welcome mat but when you're that close, it really doesn't matter and the Vikings had their second.

This was pretty much where I was with this match; it wasn't always going to be French-level world-class, but it was going to be fun and open and someone who absolutely can win a game in the Round of 16 was going to have to go home early.

In this case it was the Elephants who played this one to a dead heat until that 85th-minute winner and almost got it into extra time with all 11 players in the box for a corner deep into stoppage time that was credited with finding the head of Evann Guessand but the ball careened out of the box and the full-time whistle sounded.

UPCOMING MATCHES

France will play Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia, Norway will clash with Brazil on July 5 from the Meadowlands, while Mexico plays England at the Azteca also on July 5.

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