Kylian Mbappe at FIFA World Cup: Records, goals and stats
Find out which World Cup and internationals records French forward Kylian Mbappe could break at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Football
French football superstar Kylian Mbappe certainly lit up the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker was a standout for the defending champions, but his hat-trick in the final was in vain as Argentina prevailed on penalties.
France accumulated six points from their two opening wins against Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1) with a superior goal difference to finish top of the group.
In those two victories, Mbappe netted three World Cup goals for his country, propelling him to the top of the race for the Golden Boot.
Then he scored twice in the round-of-16 win over Poland to go clear at the top on five.
Lionel Messi of Argentina joined him on five before the pair faced each other in the final.
Messi gave Argentina the lead from the penalty spot with Angel Di Maria doubling the South Americans' lead.
But Mbappe pulled one back from the spot with 10 minutes remaining before sweeping home a second moments later to go back in front in the goalscoring stakes before Messi's strike in the second half of extra time took him to seven goals as well.
France then won a late penalty, which Mbappe converted, to make it 3-3 and force a penalty shoot-out.
Mbappe joined an elite group of players - Vava (1958, 1962), Pele (1958, 1970), Paul Breitner (1974, 1982) and Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2006) - who have scored in two World Cup finals.
Read on to find out Mbappe's current stats and which records he broke while in Qatar.
Kylian Mbappe: Impressive scoring stats at FIFA World Cup
At just 23 years old, Mbappe has so far scored 12 World Cup goals in 14 appearances at just two tournaments.
That is already more than legendary French footballers Thierry Henry, who scored six, and Zinedine Zidane, who achieved five in his career.
His goal against Poland saw him move ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of eight goals.
The overall tournament record is held by Germany's Miroslav Klose who notched up 16 goals across four tournaments.
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Kylian Mbappe: On course to become top goalscorer in the French national team
Also against Poland, Olivier Giroud scored his 52nd international goal to move ahead of Henry as France's top hitman. Giroud followed that up with number 53 in the 2-1 quarter-final win over England.
But he may not have that record for long.
With 36 goals in 66 games for France, Mbappe has moved ahead of Zidane who scored 31 in 108 appearances.
Given Mbappe has youth on his side, the Parisian could well eclipse Giroud to become his country's most prolific player ever.
Could Kylian Mbappe be the highest scoring Frenchman in a single World Cup?
Mbappe finished with eight goals at the 2022 World Cup Qatar.
In France's opener against Australia, the PSG forward scored Les Bleus' third goal on the way to their 4-1 victory. In their second game against Denmark, Mbappe was responsible for a double in the defending champs' 2-1 win.
He notched another brace against Poland to send the French through to the quarter-finals.
And he scored a hat-trick in the final against Argentina, first forcing extra time and then a penalty shoot-out.
He also converted France's opening penalty, but his teammates could not follow suit as Argentina came out on top.
The record of 13 goals scored in a single World Cup, set by fellow Frenchman Just Fontaine in 1958, will stand for at least another four years.
Kylian Mbappe: Breaking Pele's records
Mbappe has moved ahead of the great Pele for most World Cup goals scored before the age of 24.
With the Brazilian critically ill in hospital with cancer, the young Frenchman sent his good wishes via social media to one of the finest players the game has ever seen.
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Most World Cups won by the age of 24
If France had emerged victorious in the final on Sunday (18 December), Mbappe would have joined Pele (1958, 1962) as the only man to win two World Cups by the age of 24.
The striker's 24th birthday is on 20 December 2022 but, despite his best efforts, the French came up just short.