What goalscoring records is Kylian Mbappé on course to break?

Stadium 974 witnessed yet another Kylian Mbappé masterclass on Saturday, with the Paris Saint-Germain attacker once again France’s man of the match in their 2-1 victory over Denmark. Mbappé scored twice, tormented the Danish defence from start to finish and kept himself well on track to break all kinds of national and international records, barring disaster.

Although Mbappé hasn’t quite made history with the French national team yet, he’s not far from doing so. Since making his World Cup debut against Australia in Kazan four years ago, the former Monaco youngster has found goals in the world’s biggest soccer tournament easy to come by. Mbappé has already netted seven World Cup goals, more than legendary figures such as Thierry Henry, who scored six, and Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, with five. The PSG star also looks likely to break the record for highest-scoring Frenchman at the World Cup, currently held by Just Fontaine, who incredibly scored 13 times in a single tournament in 1958.

Kylian Mbappé close to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi World Cup records

It has only taken Mbappé two World Cups – or rather one World Cup and two matches – to get close to the tournament records of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have both scored eight goals across five tournaments, just one more than the Frenchman in considerably more matches. Yet another statistic which shows how Mbappé is on track to write his name into the record books. And, of course, the French international has actually got his hands on the World Cup trophy.

Kylian Mbappé on the verge of breaking Pelé's World Cup record

And Mbappé has also tied a record held by Pelé, one of his idols, whose record of winning two World Cups before the age of 24 had seemed unmatchable. O Rei scored seven World Cup goals before turning 24, the same number as the Paris-born forward, who will surpass the Brazilian if he finds the net against Tunisia on Wednesday or in the knockout stages, for which France have already qualified. On top of that, Mbappé could become the first player to have won the World Cup twice by the age of 23 as the 2022 World Cup final takes place on 18 December, two days before Mbappé's 24th birthday.

And Mbappé's incredible numbers are turning him into one of France’s greatest ever players, even at such a young age. He is already in the top seven goalscorers in the history of the French national team, with 31 goals in 61 games, equalling the tally of Zidane, whose goals came in 108 appearances. It seems to be only a matter of time until Mbappé breezes past Henry’s record of 51 goals, which Olivier Giroud equalled by scoring twice against Australia last Tuesday.

The 2022 World Cup’s joint-top scorer’s next opportunity to continue making French history comes against Tunisia on Wednesday.