Kylian Mbappé will return to France from the World Cup with his reputation as one of the best strikers of his generation enhanced, having become the first player to win the competition's Golden Boot award twice.
Mbappé picked up the accolade for leading marksman for the first time at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The then 23-year-old scored five goals in France's surge to the final.
In the showdown against Argentina, he scored a hat trick to take his haul up to eight – before France lost in a penalty shootout.
Mbappé joined England's Geoff Hurst as the only men to score three goals in a World Cup final.
Overall record
In the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Mbappé featured in a France front line that included Paris Saint-Germain's Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and Bayern Munich's Michael Olise.
The 27-year-old Real Madrid forward went into the competition with 56 goals for his country – 12 of which were scored over two World Cups.
In the opening game of the 2026 tournament, against Senegal, Mbappé equalled Olivier Giroud's France record of 57 goals – and then broke it with another strike in France's 3-1 win.
Two more followed in the game against Iraq. And there were two more in the 3-0 breeze past Sweden in the last 32.
His converted penalty put paid to Paraguay in the last 16 and he scored the first goal in the 2-0 victory over Morocco in the quarter-final to take his tally up to eight.
Crucially, he got no purchase from the Spain defence as France lost 2-0 in the semi-final in Dallas.
The final goals came during the match for the bronze medal against England in Miami.
England led 4-0 at half-time before Mbappé led the fight back to 4-3 with two goals. England eventually prevailed 6-4.
Those strikes took Mbappé to 10 goals and a record 22 World Cup goals overall – overtaking Lionel Messi.
Messi, his only active rival for the 2026 Golden Boot was neutralised during the final, as Spain claimed the trophy for the second time.
