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When people form memories of the World Cup, it’s matches like this that do it. France once again won comprehensively, and against decent opposition, but the quality of their attacking play, and the sheer beauty of their goals, were difficult to fully appreciate in the moment. It’s the sort of thing that only comes into true focus upon reflection.

Kylian Mbappé drew alongside Lionel Messi in the race for the golden boot here with another brace of unerring finishes. Michael Olise should have had a hat-trick but made do with two assists and a virtuoso performance that left jaws across the floor of the New York-New Jersey stadium. At this point it is very hard to see beyond Didier Deschamps’ men, and there is equally the sense that there is more to come.

“Team France has excellent players and when they have this state of mind and type of concentration it bodes very well”, said Deschamps, who often likes to speak as if he is a neutral observer rather than the man leading this French campaign. The head coach has spent much of the tournament downplaying expectations and emphasising focus. Even though he admitted he enjoys watching his players have fun on the field, his emphasis was on the challenges ahead. “The teams we face are going to get better, so we need to fine tune some things,” he said.

On a hot afternoon in East Rutherford, the first 30 minute suggested an intriguing contest, with Les Bleus dominating possession and Sweden offering a threat on the counter. Then, abruptly, the French upped it. It was Adrian Rabiot who set the tide in motion on the half hour, unleashing a drive that Jacob Widell Zetterström only just turned round the post with his feet. Shortly after that Mbappé fired over, then hit a post from all of six yards out. On 35 minutes, Olise effected a perfect scissor kick that also came off the woodwork, then fell to Ousmane Dembelé, whose follow-up went well over the bar. Olise then nearly scored from 20 yards out but, at full stretch, Zetterström saved for a corner.

The corner was taken by Dembelé and he played it short to Olise, who returned the pass. Dembelé then shifted it quickly to Mbappé who was just inside the box on the right hand side, about six yards out from goal. The angle looked off and there were numerous defenders in his way, but France’s inexorable talisman took a look at his closest man, Gyökeres for some reason, stood him up, shuffled to his right and bent a shot beyond Zetterström in the blink of an eye. By the time the Swedes had realised what was going on, the French were already in a group hug with Deschamps.

The celebration was a clear signal of the strength of the bond between the squad and their coach at this World Cup, something which has only deepened since Deschamps lost his mother last week. Mbappé said afterwards of the celebration: “It’s in the DNA of this group to be together and to support one another.”

France doubled their lead eight minutes into the second half. It began with good work from the Swedes, shutting down a French passing carousel, only to then immediately cough up possession. The ball was seized by Aurélien Tchouaméni and passed directly to Olise, who produced another piece of magic with a pass between the Swedish centre-half and full-back that was weighted perfectly for the run of Bradley Barcola who strode into the box and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Olise was in his pomp in the second half. He drifted across the forward line, dropped deep and ran beyond, always looking for the ball, to get it under his spell, manipulate it and cause danger. On the hour he had another effort from 20 yards-plus that forced a sprawling save from Zetterström. Just as compelling, however, was a passing triangle between himself Rabiot and Koundé on the halfway line. It lasted for a minute and the passes came off the instep, outstep, the toe; each with its distinct weight and spin. It was mesmerising.

Olise got his second assist of the game, and Mbappé his second goal, with 15 minutes remaining. Another piece of achingly beautiful play that few other sides in this tournament have shown signs of being able to get close to, it was another deft Olise pass, another perfectly timed run from Mbappé and a repeat finish, curling into the far side of the goal. It was hard not to mutter “ooh la la” involuntarily.

After the match, Graham Potter, who commended the efforts of his Sweden side against a “very strong opponent” tried to describe the challenges of containing this French team. “They use the width very well”, he said. “You have to defend the full width of the pitch and because of the quality of the players in wide areas you have to double up. So they have advantage in the wide areas, then not a bad striker in the middle. They can build up with good control and they have strong centre halves, so direct football isn’t easy against them either. Football is quite simple really, and if you’re strong all over the pitch you’ve got a good chance to win matches.”