Kylian Mbappé nears Lionel Messi's World Cup scoring record

Kylian Mbappé is rapidly approaching a significant World Cup milestone, having scored 20 goals in just 20 matches. This impressive statistic places the French forward in a strong position to potentially break Lionel Messi's current record of 21 World Cup goals.

Currently, Mbappé is in a tight race with Messi for the Golden Boot award in the ongoing tournament, with both players having netted eight goals. This competition is likely to extend to the final match, should both teams reach it. Messi, potentially playing in his last World Cup at 39, may see his historical scoring lead challenged by the French superstar in subsequent tournaments.

Since his emergence in elite football, Mbappé has consistently performed under pressure. At just 19, he was instrumental in France's second World Cup victory in Russia in 2018. In that tournament, he scored four goals, including one in the final against Croatia, matching a record set by Pelé as one of the only two teenagers to score in a World Cup championship match.

Four years later in Qatar, Mbappé once again led the scoring for Didier Deschamps' squad. He netted eight goals in the 2022 tournament, highlighted by a spectacular hat-trick in the final against Argentina. This made him only the second player, after England's Geoff Hurst in 1966, to score three goals in a World Cup final. With at least one more match to play in the current tournament, Mbappé's average of a goal per game suggests he is likely to score again, potentially in the semifinal.