France striker Kylian Mbappe became the all-time leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history after scoring twice in France's 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
The two goals took Mbappe's World Cup tally to 22 in 22 appearances, moving him ahead of Argentina captain Lionel Messi, who has scored 21 goals in 33 matches. Messi will have an opportunity to add to his total when Argentina face Spain in Sunday's final, which is expected to be his last World Cup appearance.
Mbappe also ended his third World Cup campaign with 10 goals, placing him at the top of the Golden Boot standings, two ahead of Messi.
Mbappe reaches milestone in just 22 World Cup matches
The Real Madrid forward achieved the record across three World Cup editions. He scored four goals in 2018 and eight in 2022 as France reached consecutive finals, defeating Croatia before finishing runners-up to Argentina four years later.
Speaking after the match, Mbappe said he would have preferred to be preparing for the World Cup final despite reaching the historic milestone.
"Messi is going to score on Sunday, that's for sure. 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 said.
"I would have preferred not to be the all-time top scorer and to be playing tomorrow's match. It's good in terms of legacy, but today it's not the first thing on my mind."
FIFA World Cup all-time top scorers
Following Mbappe's brace against England, the updated list of the FIFA World Cup's all-time leading scorers is:
| Rank | Player | Country | Goals | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kylian Mbappe | France | 22 | 22 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 21 | 33 |
| 3 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 16 | 24 |
| 4 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 15 | 19 |
| 5= | Gerd Müller | West Germany | 14 | 13 |
| 5= | Harry Kane | England | 14 | 18 |
| 7 | Just Fontaine | France | 13 | 6 |
| 8 | Pele | Brazil | 12 | 14 |
| 9= | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 11 | 5 |
| 9= | Jurgen Klinsmann | West Germany/Germany | 11 | 17 |
| 9= | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 11 | 27 |
