France captain Kylian Mbappe officially became the highest-scoring player in the history of the World Cup on Saturday. During the third-place play-off match against England, Mbappe netted his 22nd goal of the tournament, moving him ahead of Argentina’s Lionel Messi on the all-time leaderboard. Messi, who is set to compete in Sunday's final against Spain, currently sits one goal behind the French star.
Despite the historic milestone, France ultimately fell to England in a 6-4 defeat. The match marked the final game for Didier Deschamps as the head coach of the French national team. Deschamps, who led Les Bleus to World Cup victory in 2018 and a runner-up finish four years ago, saw his squad struggle against an aggressive England side that secured a four-goal lead in the first half. While Mbappe managed to score twice to help France attempt a comeback, England remained in control to secure third place—their best finish since winning the tournament in 1966.
Individual performances defined the high-scoring encounter, with Bukayo Saka netting a hat-trick for England. Additionally, Jude Bellingham made history by becoming the first England player to score seven goals in a single World Cup tournament. For Mbappe, the achievement of the scoring record was bittersweet. Reflecting on his performance and the race for the Golden Boot, for which he currently holds a two-goal lead over Messi, the forward noted the mixed emotions of the day.
"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. He added that while the record is significant for his legacy, it was not his primary concern during the match, stating, "I would have preferred not to be the all-time top scorer and to be playing tomorrow's match."
France’s journey to the third-place game followed a 2-0 loss to Spain in the semi-finals, which ended their hopes for a third consecutive final appearance. The World Cup concludes this Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where European champions Spain will take on South American champions and defending titleholders Argentina in the final.
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