Kylian Mbappé has said he is not thinking about the World Cup Golden Boot race after he scored twice in France’s 3-0 win over Iraq on Monday to take his goal tally for the tournament to four.
The forward, who was speaking at a news conference after the match, is joint-second in the standings, one goal behind Lionel Messi and level with Erling Haaland.
“It’s not something I’m thinking about at the moment,” Mbappé said. “I think it’s so important these days to have a team environment where we can find our bearings. It means we can be confident in our strengths when it really counts.
“I’ve always scored goals in the World Cup, so it’s not something I’m thinking about or that I’m worried about.
“But as I said, the priority for us is to play to our strengths as a team, because we know that the further we go in the competition, the tougher the challenges will be. And to win a World Cup, you’re going to have to beat everyone. So it’s going to be very difficult.”
Mbappé won the Golden Boot in 2022 when he scored eight goals in seven games — including a hat trick in the final — and finished joint-second in the scoring charts in 2018, two goals behind Harry Kane.
His brace on Monday took him to 16 World Cup goals in total, drawing him level with Miroslav Klose in joint-second overall. The feat would have seen him tie Klose and Messi in first place, had Messi not also scored both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria earlier on Monday to take the overall record outright.
“I said it yesterday: Léo always scores,” Mbappé continued. “He’s always scored and he’s scoring. He’ll always score. If I want to look at what Léo’s doing, I’ll have to do even more.
“So no, no, I don’t look at what he’s doing at all. I’m focused on helping my team. I’m sure I’m part of my team. I score goals and when you score goals, of course, you get closer to that sort of level.
“But as I said, we’ve got a long road ahead of us that’s going to be tough, and we’re going to do everything we can to come out on top at the end of this perilous journey.”
– France star Kylian Mbappé is fast becoming ‘Mr. World Cup’
– Haaland is on a collision course with Mbappé, and the World Cup is better for it
– Messi, Haaland, Mbappé, Kane: Who will be the World Cup’s top scorer?
France — who have already confirmed their place in the knockout stages — will play Haaland’s Norway in their final group game on Friday to see who will top Group I.
