2026-06-23 11:31:20
Kylian Mbappe says he is not thinking about the World Cup Golden Boot race after scoring twice in France’s win over Iraq.
The forward took his tally for the tournament to four with a brace in Les Bleus’ 3-0 victory in Philadelphia on Monday (22.06.26) but insists that the team is far more important than any individual accolades.
Mbappe – who is just one goal behind leading scorer Lionel Messi – said: “It’s not something I’m thinking about at the moment.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.”
Mbappe has now scored 16 World Cup goals overall – two behind Messi’s new record tally of 18 – but stated that he isn’t obsessing over the Argentine’s numbers.
The Real Madrid star said: “I said it yesterday: Léo always scores. 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.”
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