France captain Kylian Mbappe made himself part of football folklore by coming from behind to score twice against England in the third-place playoff, making him the all-time leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history.
In France’s 6-4 loss to England, Mbappe scored two goals, which topped his World Cup goals tally of Lionel Messi’s 21. The Real Madrid forward now tops the tournament’s all-time scoring chart after just 22 World Cup appearances.
Mbappe also extended his lead for the Golden Boot, having ended his third World Cup tournament with 10 goals, ahead of Messi who will play last against Spain.
The 27-year-old previously had four goals to his name in his France’s success at the World Cup in 2018 and eight goals in the 2022 edition before his big break on this occasion in 2026.
They put aside personal achievements, in a message after the game, Mbappe confessed that the experience of not reaching yet another World Cup final outweighed any world highs that he accomplished.
Placing to become the tallest scorer in tournament history was a huge accolade for the France star, who admitted he would have preferred to be in the final preparation mode on Sunday instead.
However, Mbappe joked that he was anticipating Messi to contribute to his total in the decisive encounter, highlighting the ability of the Argentina legend, but also explaining that his main objective was always to make France look successful.
Mbappe still has a few years left in him and can be looked up to to as well join in with a World Cup again in the future to have a chance of extending his historic tally.