Mbappé breaks Giroud and Fontaine records with brace against Senegal

Kylian Mbappé rewrote two pages of the French national team’s record book in a single evening. The Real Madrid forward scored a brace in France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal on Tuesday at MetLife Stadium in New York, becoming the all-time leading goalscorer in the history of the national team with 58 goals, surpassing Olivier Giroud, and France’s top World Cup goalscorer with 14 goals, erasing Just Fontaine’s legendary record.

Faced with mounting criticism following a difficult season at Real Madrid and a complicated post-World Cup preparation, Mbappé chose to answer on the pitch rather than with words. Asked about a possible personal revenge, he dismissed the idea: “No, there’s no revenge. If I start playing to silence everyone who criticizes me, I think I’ll have to play until I’m 80 years old.”

The France captain clarified his deeper motivations: “I play to make history for my country, to ensure my team reaches the final and wins the World Cup. The rest will always be part of my character and my career as a player.”

Despite the victory, Mbappé refused to be overly optimistic about the tournament. “I don’t think we’re fully launched yet, but it’s always important to start competitions well. It gives us a bit more peace of mind,” he said with nuance, reminding that other teams had experienced difficult starts in this World Cup.

The forward also called for measured reactions, in both directions: “It’s only a first group match. People can get excited or criticize, but we need to stay very cold and stoic about what we need to do, because we know everything moves very quickly in a World Cup.” A lucidity that contrasts with the historic scale of his performance.