Les Bleus achieved history when they defeated Poland 3-1 in the round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
With his first-half goal, Olivier Giroud surpassed Hugo Lloris as the top-scoring male player in the country’s history. Antoine Griezmann also broke the record for most consecutive appearances for Les Bleus, and young Kylian Mbappe made history of his own.
Kylian Mbappe matches Lionel Messi World Cup goalscoring record
With his stunning second-half brace, the 23-year-old equaled Lionel Messi’s World Cup goal total of nine, surpassed Pele’s record of eight, and beat Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo’s eight World Cup goals.
The fact that these nine goals have been scored in just 11 tournament appearances is what most people find astounding.
The only four players to have scored nine World Cup goals in fewer games are Eusebio (6), Ademir (6), Christian Vieri (9) and Vava. Lionel Messi needed 23 games over five World Cups to reach that total (10).
The legendary R9 Ronaldo averaged 0.79 goals per game while Mbappe is currently averaging 0.82, making him the player with the best goals-per-game record at the tournament.
The PSG star, who is only 23 years old, has already won the World Cup and, along with Pele, became the second-youngest player to score in a World Cup final. Thanks to his performance in Qatar, the current champions are now among the favourites to retain the trophy.
