With an outstanding finish against Poland in the round of 16, Kylian Mbappe moved France one step closer to successfully defending their World Cup title.
Since Brazil’s two World Cup victories in 1962, no team has been able to repeat as champions, but France may have the best chance in recent memory.
Despite losing to Tunisia, which prompted their FA to file a FIFA complaint, Didier Deschamps’ squad advanced to the knockout stages, defying the current holders curse that was begun by France in 2002.
They set up a matchup with Robert Lewandowski and his countrymen in the round of 16, and they were strong favorites to advance.
When he scored the first goal just before halftime, Olivier Giroud overtook Thierry Henry as the all-time leading scorer in France.
Poland didn’t have many opportunities to score before that goal or to tie the score, but even with that deficit, they continued to pose a threat.
With only 16 minutes remaining, Mbappe doubled the lead with a coolly taken but excellent finish, effectively ending the game.
Before the ball reached Mbappe on the edge of the box, Ousmane Dembele broke through the meek Polish defense while Giroud dislodged defenders.
Kylian Mbappe. 1 game. 2 goals. Need we say more? 🇫🇷🙌#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/6GhMorPj54
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 4, 2022
The PSG star was unmarked and effortlessly maneuvered past Wojciech Szczesny to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
With his fourth goal of the competition, he moved ahead of Giroud, Lionel Messi, Cody Gakpo, Alvaro Morata, Marcus Rashford, and Enner Valencia—who is now out of the running for the Golden Boot because Ecuador was eliminated—in the standings.
His three goals in France’s victory in Russia four and a half years ago made it his eighth World Cup goal, breaking Pele’s previous record.
Before turning 24, the iconic Brazilian had scored seven goals in a World Cup, but Mbappe smashed the mark just 16 days before his 24th birthday.
The most expensive teenager of all time and former star of Monaco, though, wasn’t done there; he even added the third goal for his club.
Marcus Thuram sent the ball to the 23-year-old inside the area, and when the forward outran his defender, he curled the ball past the goalkeeper.
Prior to Sunday, the Frenchman had already scored once against Australia and twice against Denmark in the tournament, bringing his total for the country’s squad to 33 goals in just 63 games.
Given that the AC Milan forward has scored 52 goals for his nation, Giroud’s record is unlikely to last for very long.
He could still increase that amount, but he won’t have as much time as Mbappe will to catch and overtake him.
Nobody knows exactly how many records the PSG forward will have at the conclusion of his career.
