France’s Kylian Mbappe secures second World Cup Golden Boot
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France's Kylian Mbappe now holds the all-time tournament record with 22 goals in just 22 matches.
PHOTO: REUTERS
French superstar Kylian Mbappe became the first player to win multiple FIFA World Cup Golden Boot awards after Spain shut out Argentina 1-0 in the final on July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Mbappe finished with 10 goals for the tournament after scoring twice in France’s 6-4 loss to England in the third-place match on July 18.
His only competition still active was Lionel Messi, who was searching for his first Golden Boot along with trying to guide Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup. Messi and Argentina defeated Mbappe and France on penalty kicks in the 2022 final in Qatar.
But Argentina could not muster a shot on goal against Spain’s stalwart defence and had just two total shots, both coming late in the match.
Messi went scoreless for the third match in a row. He had collected eight goals across the three group-stage matches, the round of 32 and the round of 16.
At 27, Mbappe already can call himself the greatest goal-scorer in World Cup history.
His two second-half goals on July 18 pushed him past Messi for the all-time tournament record with 22 in just 22 matches.
The 39-year-old Messi – the first player to break German Miroslav Klose’s career record early in the tournament before Mbappe caught up – stayed at 21 and may have played his final World Cup match on July 19.
Eight of Mbappe’s 10 goals this summer came in braces. He scored twice against Iraq, Senegal, Sweden and finally England. He was the first with 10 goals in a single World Cup since Gerd Muller of Germany in 1970. REUTERS
