Mbappe’s two goals help France defeat Denmark 2-1 to advance to the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as World Cup champion France defeated Denmark 2-1 at the 974 Stadium on Saturday to advance to the round of 16 and become the first team to do so.

France is in first place in the group with six points, three more than Australia, which defeated Tunisia 1-0 earlier in the day. Denmark and Tunisia are tied for last place with one point each.

On Wednesday, the semifinal matchups are between France and Tunisia and Denmark and the Socceroos.

France had the better chances in a tight, tense first half as Adrien Rabiot came close with a header and the Danes were pushed into several last-ditch blocks to preserve their clean sheet.

It was short-lived, however, as Mbappe gave the French the lead in the 61st minute by capping an excellent high-speed French counter with a bouncing first-time finish off of Theo Hernandez’s deft pull-back.

France breaks the champion’s curse and advances to the FIFA World Cup round of 16 in 2022.

Seven minutes later, Andreas Christensen, who is always a threat from set pieces, brought the Danes equal by sneaking in behind the defense and stooping to head the ball home.

In the 80th minute, Rabiot launched a spectacular volley over. A minute later, substitute Martin Braithwaite launched a first-time effort of his own that went just wide of the near post.

When Mbappe came up at the far post in the 86th minute to bounce in an Antoine Griezmann cross from close range to retake the lead and send the visiting French fans into raptures, the game appeared to be headed for a scoreless draw.

The French held on for the victory that advanced them as Denmark threw everything forward in search of a second equalizer, leaving a ton of space at the back. However, the French were successful in their late attacks against a team they had previously defeated twice in the Nations League.