Kylian Mbappé

Mbappé reached two milestones during the 2026 group stage on 22 June 2026: his 100th France cap, the youngest Frenchman in history to reach that mark, and his 16th World Cup goal, equalling Miroslav Klose's men's all-time record. Didier Deschamps named him in France's final 26-man squad on 14 May 2026 and confirmed him as captain in what Deschamps had announced would be his own final World Cup as head coach; the semitendinosus injury Mbappé sustained in late April had not curtailed his tournament.

In the quarter-final against Morocco in Boston on 9 July, Mbappé missed a first-half penalty saved by Yassine Bounou, then scored after the hour from a Désiré Doué pass as France won 2-0 to reach the semi-finals, ending the last African side's run in the tournament's record ten-nation African entry. The goal took Mbappé level with Lionel Messi on eight tournament goals.

France's run ended in the semi-final, beaten 2-0 by Spain in Arlington on 14 July, Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro scoring either side of half-time. Mbappé closed his tournament with a brace in the third-place playoff against England in Miami on 18 July, scoring in the 48th and 66th minutes as France lost 6-4 in the highest-scoring bronze final in World Cup history. The two goals took his tournament tally to ten, the highest single-tournament total of the competition, and won him the Golden Boot outright the following day when Messi failed to score in the final, making Mbappé the first player to win the award at two separate World Cups, 2022 and 2026. The same brace also took his career World Cup scoring record to 22 goals, passing Messi's 21 to become the outright all-time leader, a distinct record from the Golden Boot that was settled a day apart.

Kylian Mbappé, Born 20 December 1998 in Bondy, France, is France's national team captain and a Real Madrid forward. He announced himself globally at Russia 2018, becoming the second teenager after Pelé to score in a World Cup final as France lifted the trophy, and is France's all-time leading international scorer. At Qatar 2022 he was the tournament's top scorer with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final against Argentina, though France lost on penalties. He joined Real Madrid in summer 2024 after seven seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, a move long anticipated across European football. He finished the 2026 World Cup as the tournament's top scorer and the format's all-time leading scorer, cementing his status among the game's defining figures at 27.