France captain Kylian Mbappe scored twice against Iraq on Monday to draw level with German legend Miroslav Klose as the joint second-highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history. The 27-year-old forward now has 16 World Cup goals, moving within two of Lionel Messi's all-time record of 18.
Mbappe's brace against Iraq
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 14th minute of France's Group-stage clash in Philadelphia, reaching 15 World Cup goals on his 100th international appearance. The goal came from a combination down the right side with Michael Olise. After an initial pass was blocked, Olise regained possession and set up Mbappe at the edge of the box. Mbappe struck a powerful left-footed shot that goalkeeper Ahmed Basil touched but could not stop.
His second goal arrived in the 54th minute after a defensive error by Iraq. Defender Rebin Sulaka played a short pass back to goalkeeper Ahmed Basil following a goal kick, but Basil failed to control the ball under pressure from Ousmane Dembele. France won possession in a dangerous area, and Dembele squared the ball to Mbappe, who tapped into an empty net to double France's lead.
Messi becomes all-time leading scorer
Earlier on Monday, Lionel Messi surpassed Klose's tally by scoring a brace in Argentina's 2-0 victory over Austria. The Argentina captain now leads the all-time World Cup scoring chart with 18 goals, having equalled Klose's record in Argentina's tournament opener against Algeria before moving clear.
All-time World Cup scoring leaders
Following Monday's matches, the updated all-time men's World Cup scoring list is: Lionel Messi (18 goals), Kylian Mbappe and Miroslav Klose (16 each), Brazil's Ronaldo (15), Germany's Gerd Muller (14), and France's Just Fontaine (13).
Mbappe reaches 100 caps
According to the FIFA website, Mbappe became only the tenth French player to reach 100 international appearances. He made his senior debut for France on March 25, 2017, in a 3-1 victory over Luxembourg during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
