NEW YORK: France star Kylian Mbappe etched his name deeper into FIFA World Cup history after scoring in his side’s quarterfinal against Morocco, becoming the fastest player to reach 20 World Cup goals.
Mbappe struck in the 60th minute to bring his World Cup tally to 20 goals in just 20 matches, surpassing Lionel Messi, who reached the milestone in 30 World Cup appearances. The 27-year-old achieved the feat across the 2018, 2022 and 2026 tournaments.
At 27 years and 201 days, Mbappe also became the youngest player to score 20 World Cup goals. His tally includes four goals in 2018, eight in 2022 and eight so far in the 2026 tournament.
The goal also made Mbappe the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup knockout matches with 12 goals.
In addition, he became the first French player to be directly involved in 100 international goals, having registered 64 goals and 36 assists for his country.
With eight goals and three assists in the ongoing tournament, Mbappe became the first player since 1966 to record 10 or more goal contributions in two separate World Cup editions.
His 14 knockout-stage goal contributions also drew him level with Lionel Messi for the joint-highest total over the past six decades.
More read, France shuts out Morocco 2-0 to reach World Cup semifinals
Earlier, Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty but curled in a superb goal on the hour as France struck twice in six minutes to brush aside Morocco 2-0 and book their spot in the World Cup semifinals.
Mbappe, who at 27 became the youngest player to make 20 World Cup appearances, bagged his 20th career goal in the tournament with a curling shot from just inside the box. Ousmane Dembele added another six minutes later with a low drive to set up a last-four meeting with Belgium or Spain.
Mbappe is the tournament’s joint top scorer with eight goals, level with Lionel Messi, and trails the Argentine by one goal in the World Cup all-time scoring list.
