Kylian Mbappé etched his name into World Cup history on Saturday. With a brace in the third-place playoff against England — a wild 6-4 defeat — the French superstar reached 22 career goals in the tournament, surpassing Lionel Messi's record of 21.
Mbappé finished the 2026 World Cup with 10 goals, two more than Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, which will be awarded after Sunday's final between Argentina and Spain. Should he stay ahead, Mbappé would become the first player ever to win the Golden Boot twice, having also won it in Qatar 2022 with eight goals.
"I would have preferred not to be the top scorer in history and play in the match tomorrow," Mbappé told Fox Sports in French, referring to the final his France team missed after their semifinal loss to Spain.
The match against England was an emotional rollercoaster. Trailing 4-0 at halftime, France stormed back in the second half. Mbappé flicked a shot past England goalkeeper Dean Henderson in the 48th minute to start the comeback, then beat Henderson again in the 66th minute with a left-footed strike from about 14 yards to pass Messi's career mark.
Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola also scored, while Michael Olise added two assists, setting a record with seven in this World Cup — one more than Brazil's Pelé, who had six in 1970. Despite France's second-half resurgence, England held on to win 6-4, powered by Bukayo Saka's hat trick.
Mbappé's 10 goals in this edition tie the third-highest single-tournament total in World Cup history. Only Just Fontaine (13 in 1958), Sandor Kocsis (11 in 1954), and Gerd Müller (10 in 1970) have scored more or equal in a single edition.
The match also marked the end of Didier Deschamps' 14-year tenure as France head coach — a bittersweet farewell despite his legendary career that includes winning the 2018 World Cup and reaching the 2022 final.
Sources
- https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-france-mbappe-golden-boot-messi-9dd47a1df1469c84cc80a06184fe2732
