Kylian Mbappe underlined his status as one of the FIFA World Cup’s greatest players after scoring twice in France’s 3-0 victory over Sweden to become the competition’s all-time leading scorer in knockout matches.
The brace took the France captain to 10 goals in World Cup knockout fixtures, moving him past Brazil great Ronaldo Nazário and Brazil legend Leônidas, who both finished with eight.
Mbappe also became France’s all-time leading scorer in major tournament knockout matches, with his tally of 10 goals across the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship surpassing Antoine Griezmann’s previous record of eight.
The two goals against Sweden lifted Mbappe’s overall World Cup tally to 18 from 18 appearances, leaving him just one goal behind Lionel Messi’s all-time record of 19.
Germany’s Miroslav Klose is third on the all-time list with 16 goals, followed by Ronaldo Nazário on 15, Gerd Müller on 14, Just Fontaine on 13 and Pelé on 12.
The latest performance also added another milestone to Mbappe’s remarkable World Cup career.
The captain of the French team is now the only player in tournament history to score two or more goals in seven different matches.
Those multi-goal displays came against Argentina at the 2018 World Cup, Denmark, Poland and Argentina in 2022, and Senegal, Iraq and Sweden at the ongoing 2026 tournament.
Across his World Cup career, the 27-year-old has registered 18 goals and four assists, giving him 22 goal involvements, second only to Messi’s 27.
Earlier in the tournament, Mbappe overtook Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading scorer after netting twice against Senegal before setting a new World Cup knockout scoring record with another brace against Sweden.
With France still in contention, Mbappe is now just one goal away from equalling Messi’s all-time World Cup scoring record while continuing to build one of the greatest tournament careers in football history.
