Kylian Mbappé ties Lionel Messi as World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 21st goal

Kylian Mbappé‘s first goal against England in Saturday’s World Cup third-place game not only moved him ahead of Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race, but it also tied him with the Argentina star for most goals in the tournament all time.

Trailing 4-0 at halftime, France needed only three minutes after the break to respond. Dayot Upamecano threaded a pinpoint pass into the box, where Mbappé calmly tucked his shot into the bottom-right corner in the 48th minute.

Mbappé now has nine goals in the tournament and 21 all-time in the World Cup. He scored four times in 2018 in helping France win and eight times in 2022 when they finished as runners-up to Argentina.

This World Cup, Mbappé has scored in seven of France’s eight matches and recorded at least one goal contribution (goal or assist) in every game.

Entering the 2026 World Cup, Miroslav Klose held the all-time tournament goals record with 16. The Germany striker played in four World Cups and scored four times in at least three of them.

Messi moved ahead of Klose during the group stage with a pair of goals — his 16th and 17th all-time in the World Cup — during Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria. Mbappé broke a tie with Klose when he scored his 17th goal in a 3-0 win over Sweden in the Round of 32.

Messi will get his chance to reclaim his spot atop the all-time list when Argentina takes on Spain in the other World Cup final on Sunday.