Four-goal Mbappe aims to retain Cup

PARIS • Kylian Mbappe has fired an early warning that holders France are going to next year's World Cup Finals to win it, after he hit four goals in an 8-0 thrashing of Kazakhstan that secured qualification as winners of Group D.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward grabbed a first-half hat-trick on Saturday, making him the first Les Bleus player to achieve that feat in a competitive international since Dominique Rocheteau in 1985. He added a late fourth to complete the rout as the hosts booked their ticket to Qatar at the Parc des Princes.

"The match ball is already in my locker," Mbappe, who was the breakout star in Russia three years ago, said. "The most important thing was qualification because we wanted to give ourselves the opportunity to defend our title.

"A World Cup is a dream, an aim, it's everything and it's a unique chance to play in a team that can win it. We are going over there to win it."

Karim Benzema also grabbed a double and there were further goals for Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann, whose penalty marked his 42nd goal for France, taking him ahead of Michel Platini.

Only Thierry Henry (51) and Olivier Giroud (46) have scored more for their country.

Coach Didier Deschamps heaped praise on an effervescent performance and singled out France's front line, who ripped the visitors apart with crisp one-touch passing.

"The aim was to qualify, but we did it in style too and you could see the enjoyment the players got from playing together and how they shared things, notably the forwards," the 1998 World Cup winner said.

"It's good, everyone got their slice of the cake. It's a result that rewards everything we did well in both halves. The risk at half-time is to drop off a bit, but we continued, that's also about respecting your opponent."

Deschamps fielded a 3-4-3 formation with Kingsley Coman, a winger by trade, deployed as a right wing-back and the attack-minded strategy produced an avalanche of goals as France's natural talent shone.

Just four starters here were part of the winning squad in Russia and with Aurelien Tchouameni and Moussa Diaby coming off the bench, the French have new talent coming through as they seek to put the disappointment of Euro 2020 behind them.

years since a France player scored at least four goals in an international. Just Fontaine also netted four against West Germany in June 1958.

Benzema returned to the international fold before the summer tournament after a 51/2-year exile and while he initially struggled to get on the same wavelength as his teammates, he now has eight goals in his last 12 international appearances.

His strike partnership with the 22-year-old Mbappe is also blossoming and Benzema is confident the pair will get even better.

"We've shown that we are compatible, that we can play together and have fun while scoring, creating goals and playing for the team," the 33-year-old said.

"I am so happy to have played as I did and above all to have won. We got the goals, we didn't concede any and we played some good football."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS