Kylian Mbappé made history in New Jersey, scoring twice to overtake Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading scorer. The brace moved him up the World Cup's all-time list too.
Kylian Mbappé made history in New Jersey, scoring twice to overtake Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading scorer. The brace moved him up the World Cup's all-time list too.
France were sluggish for an hour before their captain decided the Group I opener. Mbappé broke the deadlock in the 66th minute, spinning away from Kalidou Koulibaly to finish a Michael Olise through ball past Édouard Mendy. Substitute Bradley Barcola chipped a second over Mendy in the 82nd minute, set up by Adrien Rabiot.
Senegal threatened a comeback when 18-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye pulled one back in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The reply was almost instant. Mbappé collected the ball outside the box and drilled in his second within a minute, taking him clear of Giroud at the top of France's all-time list.
Senegal had set the early tempo. Nicolas Jackson struck the post, Ismaïla Sarr volleyed over from close range before half-time, and a penalty appeal for Mbappé was waved away after a VAR check by referee Alireza Faghani.
Mbappé pointed to motivation rather than statistics. "I play to make history with my country and help my team win the World Cup," he said in French, adding that he thought of his family and loved ones as he scored.
He also brushed off the scrutiny that followed a 25-goal season at Real Madrid. "The critics? It's not about revenge," he said. "If I started playing for all the people who criticize me just to silence them, I'd have to play until I was 80."
Defender William Saliba described the frantic finish. "It was crazy," he said. "We just conceded the first goal for Senegal, and just one minute after, we score a banger. I was so happy. Yeah, a crazy goal."
Didier Deschamps, in his final World Cup as France coach, praised his captain's wider influence. "He's got a global aura due to his real talent," he said through an interpreter. "He's a very decisive player at all times." Rabiot added: "For him, it's a good thing to achieve this thing to be the best scorer of the French national team."
Mbappé scored 58 goals in 99 caps for France, more than Thierry Henry, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Antoine Griezmann. The previous record holder, Giroud, scored 57 goals in 137 matches, so Mbappé set the new mark nearly 40 games sooner.
The brace also lifted him on the World Cup's all-time scoring chart. His 13th and 14th goals at the finals drew him level with Gerd Müller and ahead of Pelé and Just Fontaine. He now trails only Brazil's Ronaldo (15) and the joint record-holders, Klose and Messi, the latter having fired a hat-trick against Algeria to move clear again.
