Is the World Cup draw opening up for France? On Monday, les Bleus saw both Germany and the Netherlands crash out on penalties, with many having previously forecast that this is who France would come up against in the round of 16 and then the quarter-finals.
Having said that, whoever Didier Deschamps' side come up against this summer, they will fancy their chances of victory, having won all three group games, scoring ten times. Ahead of Tuesday's clash with Sweden at MetLife, the winners know they will come up against Paraguay in the next round, which has to be considered a favourable draw, despite la Albirroja's heroics on Monday.
If France are going to go all the way and reach a third successive World Cup Final, something only West Germany (1990) and Brazil (2002) have previously achieved, they'll need their talisman to continue his red-hot form.
Is Kylian Mbappé playing vs. Sweden? Chasing Messi
Kylian Mbappé has obviously achieved plenty in his career, but it feels as though he saves his best for the World Cup. The Real Madrid forward began this tournament with back-to-back braces against both Senegal and Iraq, featuring a long-range screamer in both.
Thus, he was surely disappointed to blank during Friday's resounding 4-1 victory over Norway's reserves, with Ousmane Dembélé instead scoring a hat-trick in Foxborough. So, Mbappé will continue to lead France's attack, very much forming a fantastic front four.
His recent double against Iraq in Philadelphia took Mbappé's tally to 16 World Cup goals in just 16 starts at the competition, averaging a goal every 87 minutes. This of course, includes a hat-trick against Argentina during the 2022 final, just the second man to score a World Cup Final hat-trick, after Sir Geoff Hurst in '66.
Kylian Mbappé's World Cup scoring statistics
World Cup | Mbappé goals | Mbappé goals against |
|---|---|---|
2018 | 4 | Peru, Argentina (X2) and Croatia. |
2022 | 8 | Australia, Denmark (X2), Poland (X2) and Argentina (X3). |
2026 | 4 | Senegal (X2) and Iraq (X2). |
His tally of eight goals saw him leave Qatar with the Golden Boot, having bagged the joint-most goals at a single World Cup by any man since 1970, level with O Fenômeno Ronaldo's haul from 2002. By reaching 16 goals this summer, Mbappé has matched Mirosłav Klose's all-time World Cup record. The only problem is, by the time he achieved this, the German no longer held the record, with Lionel Messi having sky-rocketed past him, after scoring just the six times during the group phase.
World Cup all-time record goalscorers
Players | Nation | World Cups | World Cup goals |
|---|---|---|---|
Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2006-2026 | 19 |
Mirosłav Klose | Germany | 2002-2014 | 16 |
Kylian Mbappé | France | 2018-2026 | 16 |
Ronaldo | Brazil | 1998-2006 | 15 |
Gerd Müller | West Germany | 1970 & 1974 | 14 |
Just Fontaine | France | 1958 | 13 |
Pelé | Brazil | 1958-1970 | 12 |
Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 1954 | 11 |
Harry Kane | England | 2018-2026 | 11 |
Jürgen Klinsmann | Germany | 1990-1998 | 11 |
Of course, given that Mbappé is still only 27 years old, he will surely overtake Messi's record at some point, but he would surely love to achieve this during this tournament. Tuesday's opponents Sweden are without a clean sheet in 14 outings, shipping 30 goals across these matches, including being demolished 5-1 by Netherlands in Houston just ten days ago.
Thus, Mbappé will surely fancy his chances of closing the gap on Messi, before la Albiceleste face Cape Verde in Miami on Friday.
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