Philadelphia, July 5: France captain Kylian Mbappé moved to within one goal of Lionel Messi’s all-time FIFA World Cup scoring record after netting his 19th career World Cup goal in France’s Round of 16 victory over Paraguay on Saturday.
The 27-year-old converted a second-half penalty to take his tally to 19 goals in just 19 World Cup appearances, leaving him one behind Argentina captain Messi, who leads the all-time charts among active players with 20 goals.The strike also saw Mbappé draw level with Messi in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot, with both players now having scored seven goals in the ongoing World Cup. Norway’s Erling Haaland and England’s Harry Kane follow with five goals each.Mbappé also created another piece of history by becoming the first player to score at least three goals in the knockout stages of three different FIFA World Cups, underlining his reputation as one of the game’s biggest performers on football’s grandest stage.France coach Didier Deschamps praised his captain’s influence, saying Mbappé continued to lead both through his performances and his presence within the squad.Messi had extended his own World Cup record to 20 goals during Argentina’s victory over Cape Verde a day earlier. (AP)
