Deschamps backs Mbappe to break Messi’s World Cup record
The coach of the French national team Didier Deschamps has backed Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe to surpass Lionel Messi’s all-time World Cup goal scoring record.
Recall that Messi scored a brace to lead Argentina to a 2-0 win over Austria to become the World Cup’s all-time record goalscorer on Monday.
The Inter Miami player scored his 17th and 18th goals in the tournament’s history to move two goals clear of Germany’s former all-time record holder Miroslav Klose in the pecking order.
However, Mbappe scored twice for France in a 3-0 win against Iraq with his third and fourth goals of the ongoing World Cup pulling him level with Miroslav Klose on 16 for his career.
Mbappe is now two goals behind Messi and Deschamps has backed him to break the Argentina star’s record in the near future.
“Well, records are there to be broken,” Deschamps said in the post-match press conference. “And now he has a symbolic figure. He has 100 caps. He’s always scored goals. He will score more goals.
Read Also: Messi becomes World Cup top scorer with Austria brace
“Take Messi, take (Cristiano) Ronaldo. I’m not sure that Kylian will play up to their age, but as long as he’s on the pitch and as he feels right, he will score a lot of goals.
“Every time he beats his own record, he does have the capacity to up his ante,” he added.
Mbappé celebrated his 100th international cap for the French national team by scoring twice (14′, 54′) in the game taking his career World Cup tally to 16 goals.
The match played at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia witnesses some weather drama as the game was halted at halftime for over two hours due to severe thunderstorms and lightning before resuming for the second half.
On resumption, PSG star player Ousmane Dembélé marked his first career goal in a major international tournament, when he scored France’s third goal in the 66th minute, via an assist by Michael Olise.
Both teams will play their final Group I games on Friday, June 26, 2026, with France squaring up against Norway while Senegal will play Iraq.
