Kylian Mbappé moved ahead of Lionel Messi in the all-time World Cup scoring charts and became France‘s record goalscorer with two goals in Les Bleus’ 3-1 Group I win against Senegal in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
France, tipped as one of the pre-tournament favourites after winning in 2018 and reaching the final in 2022, were held by Senegal in the first half but a fine pass from Michael Olise found Mbappé just after the hour mark, and the Real Madrid forward made no mistake.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola then added a second in the 79th minute by dinking the ball over Senegal’s Édouard Mendy, shortly after coming off the bench, before Ibrahim Mbaye notched a consolation for the African nation. Mbappé, though, saved the best until last with the goal of the tournament so far.
Read more:Graham Platner’s victory reveals a winning midterms playbook | Pepper Culpepper | The Guardian
Deep into stoppage time, he dribbled with the ball before unleashing a shot into the top corner from 30 yards.
Mbappé, 27, moved level with West Germany legend Gerd Muller on 14 World Cup goals with his double, taking him to third in the all-time rankings behind Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16) and Brazil striker Ronaldo (15).
The Madrid star had started the Senegal game in sixth in the rankings alongside Brazil’s Pele with 12 goals. But his performance at MetLife Stadium saw moved ahead of Messi, Pele and French great Just Fontaine to move into the top three.
Read more:France World Cup squad: Camavinga, Kolo Muani miss out
Mbappé’s double strike took him to 58 goals for France which moved him clear of former Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan forward Olivier Giroud as the country’s all-time leading scorer.
Mbappe has now scored in three successive World Cups. He became only the second player, after England‘s Geoff Hurst in 1966, to score a hattrick in a World Cup final during the 3-3 draw against Argentina in Qatar four years ago.
