France, widely considered one of the strongest teams in the 2026 FIFA World Cup after an undefeated group stage, has been eliminated. Sweden pulled off the upset in the Round of 32 at the New York New Jersey Stadium on June 30, ending one of the most anticipated runs of the tournament before it ever really got going.

This was the first World Cup knockout meeting between France and Sweden in the history of the tournament. France had been flawless in the group stage, finishing undefeated. Sweden, by contrast, scraped into the knockout round as a third-place finisher in their group, most notably after a tense 1-1 draw against Japan that kept their campaign alive by the thinnest of margins.

The match kicked off at 5 p.m. ET, broadcast on FOX in the US and ITV in the UK, meaning millions of viewers across multiple continents watched France’s tournament dreams disintegrate in real time.

Major sporting events like the World Cup have increasingly become theaters for crypto-adjacent prediction markets, and this tournament has been no exception. A Solana-based token called WORLDCUP (World Cup Coin) has been referenced in connection with the tournament, though its actual market impact and liquidity remain minimal. No major crypto platform secured headline sponsorship of the tournament, and blockchain technology hasn’t been embedded into any official FIFA operations in a meaningful way.