Kylian Mbappe continued his relentless assault on the FIFA World Cup record on Tuesday night, scoring twice as France swept past Sweden 3-0 in the last 32 and set several historic milestones. The Real Madrid striker became the clear leader in goals scored in the knockout stages of the World Cup, overtaking Miroslav Klose and climbing into second place on the all-time World Cup goalscoring list, just one shy of Lionel Messi’s all-time record. France’s comprehensive victory at the New York-New Jersey Stadium also ensured a chance to face Paraguay in the last 16, with Didier Deschamps’ side producing one of the most complete performances of the tournament. Bradley Barcola scored the other goal, but the night ultimately belonged to Mbappé, whose outstanding performances on football’s biggest stage continue to redefine World Cup history.
Mbappe is in a league of his own, becoming the king of the World Cup knockout stages
The breakthrough came just before half-time and showed exactly why Mbappe is one of the most feared players in international football. He won possession on the edge of the Swedish penalty area, leapt past his marker with a nimble cross-step, and then curled a clinical shot past the goalkeeper in the 45th minute. The striker immediately rushed to the French technical area to celebrate with Deschamps, who returned to the touchline after missing France’s final group stage game following the death of his mother. Bakola doubled France’s advantage eight minutes into the second half and Kylian Mbappe calmly completed another move for France with a brace in the 74th minute to remove any doubts about the outcome. When Mbappe was substituted in the 85th minute of another win, Deschamps bowed to his star striker. These two completions are of huge historical significance. Mbappe’s first goal took him to nine goals in the World Cup knockout rounds, breaking a long-standing tie with Brazil’s Leonidas and Ronaldo Nazari. Leonidas scored against Sweden in 1938 and Ronaldo equaled it against Ghana in 2006. Brazil’s joint record stood for 20 years before Mbappe broke it and then added a distant 10th. These knockout goals came from three games. He scored three goals during France’s title win in 2018, including twice in the round of 16 against Argentina and one in the final against Croatia. Four years later, in Qatar, he scored five more goals, including two against Poland, before scoring a memorable hat-trick in the final against Argentina. He scored twice against Sweden and scored 10 goals in nine games in the World Cup knockout stages.
Quickly approaching Messi’s World Cup total record
The bracket also reshaped another famous chart. Mbappe has scored 16 career World Cup goals, tied with Klose. With his brace, he reached 18 goals in his World Cup career, surpassing the former Germany striker and becoming the second-highest scorer in World Cup history. Only Lionel Messi remains in the lead now. The Argentina captain has scored 19 goals at the World Cup, meaning Mbappe is just one behind him. Remarkably, the French forward has scored 18 goals in just 18 appearances at three World Cups, while Messi needed 29 appearances in six World Cups to reach the same milestone. There’s still a lot of energy in this game. Both players have six goals to their name during the 2026 World Cup and have sealed top spot in the Golden Boot standings, although Mbappe currently leads the tiebreak tiebreaker. Earlier in the tournament, Messi extended his overall World Cup record by becoming the first player to score against 13 different nations at the World Cup, but Mbappe quickly closed the gap with another superb knockout performance. His 18 World Cup goals are spread across three competitions: four in Russia in 2018, eight in Qatar in 2022 and six goals already during the 2026 World Cup. This summer alone, he scored twice against Senegal, scored again against Iraq in the group stage, scored nothing against Norway, and then scored the decisive brace against Sweden.
France continues its push for another World Cup
Mbappe was quick to focus on collective achievements rather than his own individual accolades. “I know very well who I am, how I play and what I want to do, but it’s not just about me,” Mbappe said through a translator. “The whole team knows what to do. It’s a new game starting today. We did play well, but we were timid. We could have done better at the beginning.” After a smooth start, France have certainly settled into the game. They finished the game with 61% possession, taking 25 shots, 13 of them on target, with a passing accuracy of 91%, winning 9 corners, and limiting Sweden to just 8 shots on goal, only 3 of which were tested by Mike Maignan. The clean sheet also extended France’s impressive streak of scoring at least twice in seven consecutive World Cup matches dating back to the 2022 World Cup. The 3-0 victory was France’s biggest victory in a World Cup knockout round since defeating Brazil by the same score in the 1998 final. The Roosters will travel to Philadelphia to face Paraguay on July 4, with the winner five days later advancing to the quarterfinals against either Canada or Morocco. However, for Mbappe, there is now another opportunity waiting in the wings. With just one goal, he is far from Messi’s all-time World Cup record, and with the knockout stages just beginning, another chapter of football history may be written before the World Cup ends in France.
