France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their third goal at FIFA World Cup 2026 - Bronze Final - France v England - Miami Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US on 18 July, 2026.
France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their third goal at FIFA World Cup 2026 - Bronze Final - France v England - Miami Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US on 18 July, 2026.
Football

France's Mbappe becomes World Cup's all-time top scorer

ReutersMiami

France striker Kylian Mbappe became the World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 22 goals when he netted twice in Les Bleus' 6-4 defeat by England in the third-place game on Saturday (Bangladesh time Sunday).

The 27-year-old leapfrogged Argentina's Lionel Messi (21), who is due to play in Sunday's final against Spain, and although that will almost certainly be his rival's last World Cup game, Mbappe will probably play in at least one more global tournament.

Mbappe finished his third World Cup campaign with 10 goals to the lead the Golden Boot standings, two ahead of Messi.

Also read:What Messi must do to overtake Mbappe as Golden Boot race goes down to the wire
France's Kylian Mbappe in action with England's Ezri Konsa at FIFA World Cup 2026 - Bronze Final - France v England - Miami Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - 18 July, 2026.

The Real Madrid forward managed the feat in 22 appearances, scoring four goals in 2018 and eight in 2022 as France reached both finals, beating Croatia and losing to Argentina four years ago.

"Messi is going to score (on Sunday), that's for sure. I'm just trying to help my team win. When you score a lot of goals at the World Cup, it puts you in a certain category," Mbappe said.

"I would have preferred not to be the all-time top scorer and to be playing tomorrow's match. It's good in terms of legacy, but today it's not the first thing on my mind."

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