Kylian Mbappe reached another historic milestone at the FIFA World Cup, but the France captain said he would gladly trade the record for a place in the final.
Mbappe scored twice in France’s 6-4 defeat to England in the third place match. The goals took his World Cup tally to 22, making him the competition’s all time leading scorer.
He also moved to the top of the Golden Boot race with 10 goals.
Despite those achievements, Mbappe admitted they brought little comfort after France missed out on the final.
“I would have preferred not to be the all time top scorer and to be playing tomorrow’s match,” Mbappe said.
“It’s good in terms of legacy, but today it’s not the first thing on my mind.”
The Real Madrid forward said winning with France has always been more important than personal records.
“Messi is going to score in the final, that’s for sure,” Mbappe said.
“I’m just trying to help my team win. When you score a lot of goals at the World Cup, it puts you in a certain category.”
Mbappe’s latest goals moved him ahead of Lionel Messi on the World Cup scoring list. Messi still has one more chance to add to his tally when Argentina face Spain in the final.
The 27 year old has now scored 22 World Cup goals in only 22 appearances. He scored four goals in 2018, eight in 2022 and 10 in this year’s tournament.
Yet Mbappe made it clear that records were never his main target.
For him, lifting the World Cup trophy remains the greatest prize. Individual milestones can wait. Another chance to play in a World Cup final cannot.
