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It was only a question of when, not if, Kylian Mbappé would make Sweden pay in the World Cup round of 32 on Tuesday.
In the 20th minute, France's talismanic striker put the ball in the net only to be flagged for offside, and just 12 minutes later, he unleashed a shot that sent the goalpost shaking. Mbappé was relentless in his pursuit of a goal before the break and found his moment through a short corner routine.
Collecting the ball just inside the penalty area, he produced a mesmerizing step-over that sent Swedish forward Viktor Gyökeres tumbling to the turf, before curling a powerful shot into the far corner past goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström to give France a 1–0 advantage in the 45th minute.
With that clinical strike, Mbappé became the greatest goal scorer in World Cup knockout stage history. He has now netted nine times in the knockout rounds across just nine appearances in three tournaments, with his most iconic contribution being a hat trick in the 2022 World Cup final. The feat saw him overtake Brazil legends Leônidas and Ronaldo, who each tallied eight knockout stage goals.
Mbappé also claimed outright second place in the all-time World Cup scoring charts, registering his 17th tournament goal to move ahead of former record holder Miroslav Klose (16). Only Argentina's 39-year-old Lionel Messi stands above him with 18 goals across six World Cup campaigns. The 27-year-old Frenchman, still very much in his prime, looks certain to eclipse Messi's record at some point, potentially even this summer.
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The goal was also Mbappé's fifth of the tournament, drawing him level in a tight Golden Boot race for second place alongside Norway's Erling Haaland.
Mbappé marked the occasion with a heartfelt embrace of French head coach Didier Deschamps, who had returned to the dugout after briefly flying back to France to attend his mother's funeral.