MIAMI: France captain Kylian Mbappe created history by overtaking Lionel Messi to become the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history.
The French star scored twice in the second half, with his second goal coming while 24 minutes remained, during France’s 2026 World Cup third-place playoff against England in Miami.
The brace took Mbappe’s World Cup tally to 22 goals in 22 matches, moving him one clear of Messi’s 21 in 33 matches. After going into the break 4-0 down, France struck just three minutes into the second half.
Dayot Upamecano played a perfectly weighted pass into the penalty area, where Kylian Mbappe kept his composure and slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner in the 48th minute, going level with Messi’s 21-goal tally.
Mbappe’s second goal came in the 66th minute after Bradley Barcola’s 54th-minute goal and sparked France’s comeback, cutting England’s lead to 4-3 and making him the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history.
The move was brilliantly crafted, with Michael Olise producing a deft flick into Mbappe’s path before the French captain controlled the ball and fired a left-footed finish past Dean Henderson.
Before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Miroslav Klose was the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. However, Messi surpassed the German legend after scoring his first-ever World Cup hat-trick in Argentina’s opening match against Algeria.
Messi then added a brace against Austria, followed by goals in the group-stage win over Jordan, the Round of 32 victory over Cabo Verde and the Round of 16 triumph against Egypt.
Mbappe began the 2026 FIFA World Cup with 12 career World Cup goals and had scored eight goals in the tournament before the third-place playoff against England.
His brace in the match took his tally to 10 goals in the ongoing edition, putting him at the top of the Golden Boot standings, ahead of Lionel Messi, who is second with eight goals. (ANI)
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