The France captain overtook Giroud to score 58 goals for his country, the most for Les Bleus in a World Cup.
Published June 17, 2026
Any doubts about Kylian Mbappé’s status as one of the world’s best footballers were put to rest after he moved to the top of the statistics with two goals in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal in the opening game of the World Cup.
The 27-year-old on Tuesday surpassed Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 goals. Giroud, who was commentating during Tuesday’s game against Senegal, congratulated Mbappé live on TV after he scored again in the 96th minute.
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Mbappé also became France’s top scorer at the World Cup with 14 goals, making him the youngest player to reach that figure. He surpassed Juste Fontaine’s record of 13 goals scored in the 1958 World Cup.
Mbappe is just two goals shy of Miroslav Klose’s record for most World Cup goals, another record he could break next week when France play Iraq in Philadelphia. He ranks third in the rankings behind Brazil’s Ronaldo with 15 goals, but ahead of Argentina icon Lionel Messi with 13 World Cup goals.
Mbappe posted on social media immediately after the record-breaking match, but made no mention of his personal milestone.
“It’s always important to start with a win. It’s going to be a long road, but we’re ready,” he wrote on Instagram.
For his first goal of the 2026 tournament, Mbappe raced through the penalty area in the 66th minute to meet Michael Oliseh’s superb pass, breaking a deadlock in a match in which France struggled in the first half but came back to life at the end of the second half.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola then came off the bench in the closing stages to score the second goal, while club colleague Ibrahim Mbaye pulled one back for Senegal in stoppage time.
However, Mbappé sealed the victory with a long-range shot in the 96th minute.
Mbappé is no stranger to World Cup stardom. At just 19 years old, he led France to victory at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
What other records has Mbappé broken?
His only goal for France against Peru in 2018 made him the youngest French player to score in a World Cup and the second teenager to score in a World Cup final, after Pele. Mbappe’s performance earned him FIFA’s Young Player of the Year award and he was also named France’s Player of the Year.
In 2022, Messi’s Argentina snatched back-to-back titles from France, but Mbappé’s hat-trick in the World Cup final was only his second such feat. England’s Geoff Hurst scored in a 4-2 win over West Germany at Wembley in 1966.
Mbappe’s goal on Tuesday means he has scored in three consecutive World Cup matches, and is the only player to have scored two or more goals in five different World Cup matches.
