Mbappe breaks Pele's record

At the age of 23, 11 months and 14 days, Mbappe has scored 9 goals in 11 matches, including four in the 2018 World Cup and five this time. He broke the record of Pele - the striker scored seven goals in the World Cup before turning 24 years old.

With 9 goals, Mbappe also surpassed the achievements of famous players like Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo or Rivaldo. He equaled Eusebio, Roberto Baggio or Lionel Messi, even though he had just played in his second World Cup.

Of Mbappe's 9 goals, 5 were scored in the knockout round. He is also the youngest player to do this in a World Cup since Pele in 1958. That year, Pele scored six goals at the World Cup despite being under 18 years old.

Pele suffered an early injury and missed the 1962 World Cup, leaving him with only one goal at the tournament. Brazil that year still won the championship with other stars like Garrincha. It was also the last time a team successfully defended the World Cup title.

Mbappe also wants France to do the same thing Brazil did 60 years ago. He said after the match on the evening of December 4: "At the moment I am not thinking about the Golden Ball, but only focusing with France to defend the World Cup."

Mbappe passed Olivier Giroud to open the scoring against Poland, then he scored twice in the 3-1 win. Statistics Whoscored gave Mbappe 9.8 points - the best parameter of a player this period.

FIFA also awarded Mbappe the "Player of the Match" award for the third time in the 2022 World Cup through the three matches he started. No other player has done anything like this this season.

Mbappe also rose to the top of the list of goalscorers at the 2022 World Cup, two or more goals ahead of other players. He needs eight more goals to break Miroslav Klose's record of 16 at the World Cup. Mbappe still has many opportunities to do that, when he will turn 24 years old two days after the 2022 World Cup final.