KUCHING: France have produced no shortage of legendary forwards over the decades, from Just Fontaine and Michel Platini to Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud.
Now, one name stands above them all.
Kylian Mbappé became France’s all-time leading scorer after netting twice in a 3–1 victory over Senegal at the New York New Jersey in USA as Les Bleus opened their World Cup campaign today.
The Real Madrid superstar’s brace took his international tally to 58 goals in just 99 appearances, surpassing Giroud’s previous record of 57 goals — trailblazing a new front for the Les Blues.
Yet it was the manner of his second goal that truly captured the moment.
Moments after Senegal had threatened to claw their way back into the contest, Mbappé collected the ball around 30 yards from goal, took one touch and unleashed a thunderous strike beyond Edouard Mendy.
The spectacular effort restored France’s two-goal cushion and effectively ended Senegal’s hopes of a comeback.
It also marked Mbappé’s 14th World Cup goal, moving him within two of Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament record of 16.
France had earlier taken the lead through Bradley Barcola after a tightly contested first half in which Senegal matched the 2018 world champions for long spells.
Mbappé then took over proceedings after the break, scoring twice as Didier Deschamps’ side eventually pulled away from stubborn opposition.
Ibrahim Mbaye grabbed a late consolation for Senegal in stoppage time after Mike Maignan failed to keep out a powerful strike, but the result was never seriously in doubt.
Watching from the BBC studio, former France striker Giroud admitted the record had long felt inevitable.
“Congratulations Kylian. I’m happy for him,” said Giroud.
“It makes sense, it was expected.
“He will beat every single record — the number of caps and goals. I think he can easily reach 100 goals and maybe beat Miroslav Klose’s World Cup record.”
Giroud also credited Mbappé’s mentality for his extraordinary rise.
“He knows where he wants to go. He is a leader and you could see from a young age he was very at ease.
“He is a good team-mate, he is an incredible talent and I think he is a proper leader on and off the pitch.”
At just 27, Mbappé is already France’s record scorer, a World Cup winner and one of the defining players of his generation.
Against Senegal, he added another chapter to a career that continues to rewrite the record books.
