Kylian Mbappé etched his name into football history once again. In Saturday's World Cup third-place match, a 6-4 loss to England in Miami Gardens, the France captain scored a brace to reach 22 career World Cup goals, surpassing Lionel Messi's 21 and becoming the all-time leading scorer in the competition's history.
Mbappé finished the tournament with 10 goals, two more than Messi, who faces Spain in Sunday's final. If the Argentinian fails to overtake him, Mbappé would become the first player ever to win the Golden Boot in two consecutive World Cups, having also won it in Qatar 2022 with eight goals.
The match started disastrously for France, trailing 4-0 at halftime. Mbappé sparked the comeback in the second half: in the 48th minute he flicked a shot past England goalkeeper Dean Henderson, then in the 66th minute he beat Henderson again with a left-footed strike from about 14 yards to surpass Messi's career mark of 21. Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé also scored for Les Bleus, while Michael Olise set a record with seven assists in a single World Cup, one more than Pelé's six in 1970.