Despite leading France to a 4-6 defeat by England, captain Kylian Mbappe made a World Cup history by surpassing Lionel Messi as the competition’s all-time leading scorer.
Mbappe netted two goals for France in Saturday’s third-place playoff with England in Miami Gardens, Florida, taking his career World Cup tally to 22 goals and moving ahead of Messi on the all-time scoring chart.
The France captain started a spirited fightback with a first-time finish three minutes into the second half. Bradley Barcola then reduced the deficit before the Real Madrid forward struck again in the 66th minute to keep Les Bleus in contention.
Despite setting a new World Cup scoring record, Mbappe said he was consoled by the personal milestone.
His brace against England also strengthened his grip on the race for the Golden Boot. The 27-year-old now leads the scoring chart with 10 goals at the 2026 World Cup, while Messi has eight ahead of the final.
Mbappé told Fox Sports after the game that “Leo scores all the time. Tomorrow (today Sunday when Lionel Messi leads defending Champion against Spain) he will score for sure.
“I just try to help my team every time to score. It’s certain that when you score so many goals in the World Cup it elevates you to certain levels but there you go.
“I would have preferred not to be the top scorer in history and play the match tomorrow. So I think it’s good for everything related to legacy and when we stop saying that I was one of those players, but today that’s not the first thing on my mind.
“I would have preferred not to be the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history and instead be able to play in the World Cup final tomorrow.”
Thirty-nine-year-old Messi, playing in his sixth World Cup, looks good to reclaim the record in Sunday’s final.
He had taken over the record holder Miroslav Klose earlier in the tournament with a hat-trick and braces as well as more goals against Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde and Egypt.
Mbappe’s brace against England also strengthened his grip on the race for the Golden Boot. The 27-year-old now leads the scoring chart with 10 goals at the 2026 World Cup, while Messi sits on eight ahead of the final.
Mbappe burst on football’s biggest stage at the 2018 World Cup, winning the Young Player of the Tournament award after netting four goals as France lift the trophy.
He scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final but France lost to the Messi inspired Argentina in Qatar.
Saturday’s feat further cements Mbappe’s place among the game’s greats as the France captain made it clear that reaching the World Cup final would have meant far more than rewriting the record books.
