Mr World Cup
The World Cup is Kylian Mbappé's tournament.
Sure, Lionel Messi isn’t doing bad.
Okay, that’s a bit of an understatement.
Across the past two World Cups, Messi has reigned supreme. Yet this King is not without his challenger, his heir apparent.
And while Messi took years to truly shine on the biggest stage of them all, Kylian Mbappé has been doing it since the moment he first arrived on it.
Mbappé missed a penalty, scored and then assisted as France eased past Morocco and into the semi-finals on Thursday.
Only twice in the history of the World Cup has a player failed from the penalty spot, but then also scored and set another goal up in the same match. Both those instances occurred within the space of two days, with Mbappé doing so after Messi had done exactly the same against Egypt in Argentina’s incredible 3-2 comeback win in Atlanta.
Mbappé’s goal — a sublime curler from the edge of the box, bent into the right-hand side of the net with precision — was his 20th at the finals, just one shy of a tournament record Messi is still aiming to extend. The 27-year-old is also level, as it stands, with the Argentina icon in this year’s thrilling Golden Boot race; Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are, of course, hot on the duo’s heels, though only one of those number nines will be heading through to the semi-finals.
But the numbers Mbappé is tallying up (and has already tallied up) are just incredible. He is Mr World Cup.
Since the very moment he burst into the tournament limelight with France back in 2018, he has lit it up.
He scored four times in Russia, including a stunner in the final against Croatia. He, of course, plundered a hat-trick in the final in Qatar in 2022, only to finish on the losing side in that dramatic penalty shoot-out, as Messi finally got his hands on the one trophy missing from his vast collection.
After assisting Ousmane Dembélé to finish the job against Morocco, Mbappé has now been involved in 11 goals at the 2026 World Cup, scoring eight times and laying on three assists.
Gerd Müller holds the record for goal involvements in one tournament, with 13 (10 goals, three assists), set back in 1970.
But let’s keep in mind, while Messi has taken the last two World Cups by storm, with the majority of his tournament goals coming after he turned 35, Mbappé is still only 27.
He is in the prime of his career but has years ahead of him — there’s nothing to suggest Mbappé won’t be competing at the next two World Cups, at least.
By then, surely (surely!) Messi will be retired, and Mbappé will have free rein to own all the records, and push them to new, dizzying heights.
All stats via @OptaJoe on X
Mbappé might be magnificent, but Morocco were certainly not. In fact, they fell flat and offered nothing, mustering just four shots, and only one of those was on target.
