Kylian Mbappé made his World Cup debut eight years ago in Russia. He’s only in his third tournament, and he already sits one goal behind Lionel Messi atop the competition’s all-time scoring list, with 19 goals from as many appearances. At the rate he’s going, whatever gap remains between the two won’t last long, and the record will likely belong to Mbappé outright before his career is done.
The numbers keep piling up in strange ways. He is now the only player ever to score at least three goals in the knockout
stage at three separate World Cups. He was already a world champion at 19, in 2018. Four years later in Qatar, he dragged France to another final almost single-handedly and scored a hat-trick against Argentina. Add his goal in the 2018 final against Croatia, and Mbappé has four goals across the two biggest matches in the sport, more than anyone else in World Cup history has managed in finals alone.
The kid who arrived in Russia as a lanky winger with a jet engine for a first touch is now the most feared finisher in the tournament. He played in back-to-back finals in 2018 and 2022. Whether anyone finds a way to stop him from making it three in a row is one of the more interesting questions left in this tournament.
