After a heartbreaking loss to South Korea, France returned to action straight away to face Sweden in the Bronze Finals. The crowd witnessed another captivating game as both teams went blow for blow across all five maps, but there was more disappointment for France as Sweden ultimately overpowered them.

Nepal

Village: France took initial control, but Sweden quickly claimed the point. As the stage drew on, Sweden failed to find an answer for the French Pharah, aKm, who achieved significant entry damage on every push. Allowing his team to win fight after fight, securing the opening round.

Sanctum: A chaotic start saw the point trade back and forth. TviQ got a series of multikills with RIP-Tires but he was outshone by his opponent Junkrat, So0n. A strong, aggressive hold allowed France too take the stage and the opening map.

King’s Row

Sweden started strongly with TviQ once again on Junkrat, causing aKm to go Pharah in an attempt to counter him. snillo answered right back with a McCree pick. The hero switches kept coming but Sweden continued their march forward, completing the map with 2:20 in the timebank.

Reinhardt and Zarya were hero choices for the Swedish defence, but it was vulnerable to aKm’s Pharah. France quickly captured the first and second point. Sweden finally made their stand in the third section of the map. CWoosH showed his skill on Reinhardt, hitting multiple Earthshatters. While it could not stop France completing the map, it did force them into overtime.

Because of CWoosh’s Reinhardt play, Sweden only needed a single tick to win the map and got it on first push thanks to Manneten’s Widowmaker prowess. The series was tied 1-1.

Hanamura

France struggled to capture Point A, but a stellar Soldier 76 performance from aKm allowed them to make their time back on Point B, and they completed the map with 2:55 left. Sweden had a similar struggle on Point A, eventually overcoming a stubborn French defence. Sweden took several attempts on Point B too, but a fast rotation to the balcony area drew France out of position and allowed the capture.

With a small timebank, Sweden attacked again but they could not crack a compact team defense from France protected by KnoxXx’s Orisa. France, with a larger timebank, required a single tick, but Sweden picked them off every time France entered the gates. Sweden forced the draw.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

The Swedish shutout continued. Every attack from France was halted, preventing them gaining a single checkpoint. The Swedes had done all the hard work and only needed to get the payload 67.64m. Zebbosai opened with the Widowmaker and his team secured the victory with little resistance. The match point went to Sweden.

Oasis

Gardens: Both aKm and TviQ started with Pharah, and ownership of the point alternated as scrappy fights ensued. It came down to one final fight where aKm took out both supports with a crucial Barrage. Sweden could not recover and So0n cleaned up.

University: The stage saw CWoosH on Reinhardt and Manneten on Zarya. France engaged in close quarters and were punished, losing the first fight. Once Sweden was set up, France had no answer. The point counter read 100% to none as Sweden tied the map.

City Center: France took the early lead, getting up to 55% before Sweden were able to take back the point. As on University, once Sweden had established control they repelled every attack. TviQ finished it with a Tactical Visor, mowing down the Frenchmen as they rushed the point. Sweden claimed third place at the Overwatch World Cup for the second year running.