Kylian Mbappe entered his name in the history books on Thursday (Friday IST) by becoming the youngest player in the world to play 20 matches in the FIFA World Cup. The first quarterfinal of FIFA World Cup 2026 between France and Morocco at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Thursday is Mbappe’s 20th match in the FIFA World Cup.
He made his FIFA World Cup debut for Les Bleus in 2018 and has featured in every match for them since then.
FIFA World Cup matches played by Kylian Mbappe
| EDITION | HOST(S) | MATCHES | GOALS |
| 2018 | Russia | 7 | 4 |
| 2022 | Qatar | 7 | 8 |
| 2026 | USA, Canada, Mexico | 6* | 7* |
| TOTAL | 20* | 19* |
Mbappe is 27 years and 201 days old on July 9. The previous youngest player in the world to make 20 FIFA World Cup appearances was Wladislaw Zmuda of Poland. Wladislaw Zmuda was 28 years and 34 days old when he played his 20th FIFA World Cup match for Poland.
20 – At 27
years and 201 days, 🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé is the youngest player to reach 20 appearances at the FIFA World Cup, breaking 🇵🇱 Wladislaw Zmuda’s record (28 years, 34 days).
Sprightly. pic.twitter.com/Iavruc65gb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 9, 2026
By playing his 20th FIFA World Cup match on Thursday, Mbappe has also equalled former France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’ record of most appearances for France in the tournament’s history.
Lloris, who was the captain of the France team that won the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and finished as runners-up in 2022, also played 20 FIFA World Cup matches.
Most matches for France in FIFA World Cup
| RANK | PLAYER | MATCHES | EDITIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugo Lloris | 20 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| Kylian Mbappé | 20* | 2018, 2022, 2026 | |
| 3 | Antoine Griezmann | 19 | 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| 4 | Olivier Giroud | 18 | 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| Raphaël Varane | 18 | 2014, 2018, 2022 | |
| 6 | Fabien Barthez | 17 | 1998, 2002, 2006 |
| Thierry Henry | 17 | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 | |
| Ousmane Dembélé | 17* | 2018, 2022, 2026 | |
| 9 | Lilian Thuram | 16 | 1998, 2002, 2006 |
| 10 | Maxime Bossis | 15 | 1978, 1982, 1986 |
The record for playing the most matches in FIFA World Cup history is in the name of Argentina’s Lionel Messi. The 39-year-old footballer from Rosario has played 31 matches so far for Argentina across six editions.
Most matches in FIFA World Cup
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | EDITIONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 31 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 27 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 3 | Lothar Matthäus | Germany | 25 | 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998 |
| 4 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 24 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
| 5 | Paolo Maldini | Italy | 23 | 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 |
| Luka Modrić | Croatia | 23 | 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 | |
| Manuel Neuer | Germany | 23 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 | |
| 8 | Diego Maradona | Argentina | 21 | 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 |
| Ivan Perišić | Croatia | 21 | 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 | |
| Uwe Seeler | West Germany | 21 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 | |
| Władysław Żmuda | Poland | 21 | 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986 | |
| 12 | Kylian Mbappe | France | 20* | 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| Cafu | Brazil | 20 | 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 | |
| Thibaut Courtois | Belgium | 20 | 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 | |
| Philipp Lahm | Germany | 20 | 2006, 2010, 2014 | |
| Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 20 | 1974, 1978, 1982 | |
| Hugo Lloris | France | 20 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | |
| Javier Mascherano | Argentina | 20 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 | |
| Bastian Schweinsteiger | Germany | 20 | 2006, 2010, 2014 |
Mbappe aims to create history
Mbappe is France’s highest goal-scorer in international football as well as in the FIFA World Cup. He has scored 19 goals so far, which includes seven in the ongoing edition. If Mbappe manages to score at least one goal against Morocco in the first quarterfinal match of FIFA World Cup 2026, he will equal Messi’s tally of eight goals in this year’s tournament and also become the first player in the world to score eight goals in multiple FIFA World Cup editions.
Mbappe played seven matches for France in the 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup and scored eight goals to win the Golden Boot.
