Even if the main thing was elsewhere for the captain of the France team, whose only avowed objective was to win a new World Cup, Kylian Mbappé left this World Cup having left his mark a little more in the annals of the competition.
By scoring a final double in the small final against England, the Real Madrid striker accomplished an unprecedented feat: becoming the only player in history to finish top scorer in two consecutive World Cups (2022 and 2026), while seizing the title of absolute top scorer in the history of the competition.
In 2022, his 8 goals in Qatar earned him his first FIFA Golden Boots. Four years later, the Bondynois did even better by completing the 2026 tournament with 10 goals and 4 assists in 8 matches. Enough to allow him to beat Lionel Messi, whose tally remained stuck at eight goals after the round of 16.
22 goals in 22 matches: The absolute king of the World Cup
This total of 10 goals in a single edition constitutes an extremely rare performance: it is the highest total scored by a player during a World Cup since the 10 goals of German legend Gerd Müller in 1970. Only Just Fontaine (13 in 1958) and Sándor Kocsis (11 in 1954) have done better in the modern history of the game.
Beyond this double individual crown, it is the throne of top scorer in the history of the final stages that the French striker has conquered. With his 10 American achievements in addition to the 4 in 2018 and the 8 in 2022, Kylian Mbappé reached the dizzying figure of 22 goals in 22 World Cup matches.
Enough to allow him, here too, to get ahead of Lionel Messi (21 goals). Surgical regularity at only 27 years old. “Being the top scorer in the history of the World Cup is something big for the legacy and for when I hang it up. But today, I would have preferred not to hold this record and to play in the final,” he admitted after the defeat against England.
