Kylian Mbappé has written another chapter in football history. With a brace in the third-place match lost 6-4 to England in Miami Gardens, the French striker reached 22 career World Cup goals, surpassing Lionel Messi (21) to become the all-time leading scorer in the competition's history.
"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 Argentina-Spain final that France missed after losing to Spain in the semifinals.
The match against England was spectacular and goal-filled. Trailing 4-0 at halftime, France fought back with pride in the second half. Mbappé pulled one back in the 48th minute with a delicate chip past Dean Henderson, sparking the comeback. In the 66th minute he scored his second with a left-footed strike from 14 yards, surpassing Messi's career mark of 21 goals. Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé also scored in the partial comeback, but England held on to claim third place.
With 10 goals in this edition, Mbappé recorded the third-best single-tournament performance in World Cup history, matching Gerd Müller (1970) behind only Just Fontaine's 13 (1958) and Sándor Kocsis's 11 (1954). He also leads the Golden Boot race by two goals over Messi: should the Argentine fail to score a hat-trick in Sunday's final against Spain, Mbappé would become the first player to win the Golden Boot in two consecutive editions, after winning it in Qatar 2022 with 8 goals.
Michael Olise also set a new record for most assists in a single World Cup with 7, surpassing Pelé's previous mark of 6 set in 1970.
The match also marked Didier Deschamps' farewell as France coach after 14 years. "In the end, we didn't win, and that's a shame for the coach," Mbappé said. "The first half gives the impression that we let him down — that's not at all how we wanted him to feel. This match isn't going to tarnish Didier Deschamps' legacy."
France thus leaves the 2026 World Cup in fourth place, but with a historic record that will remain in the competition's annals.
Sources
- https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-france-mbappe-golden-boot-messi-9dd47a1df1469c84cc80a06184fe2732
