Mbappe becomes first player to win Golden Boot twice
Real Madrid forward also collected Bronze Ball after spearheading France's run to semi-finals, capping another extraordinary World Cup campaign
Kylian Mbappe once again reigned supreme on football's grandest stage, retaining the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot after finishing as the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals — a feat that further cemented his place among the game's greatest marksmen.
The France captain struck twice in Les Bleus' pulsating 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place play-off in Miami on Saturday, taking his tally into double figures and becoming the first player to win the World Cup Golden Boot twice after also claiming the honour at Qatar 2022.
The 27-year-old also became the first player since West Germany legend Gerd Müller in 1970 to score 10 goals in a single World Cup. Only France's Just Fontaine (13 in 1958) and Hungary's Sándor Kocsis (11 in 1954) have managed more goals in a single edition of the tournament.
Mbappe's breathtaking campaign began with a dazzling brace against Senegal in France's opening match, a performance that also saw him become Les Bleus' all-time leading scorer. He followed it up with two more goals against Iraq before adding another brace against Sweden in the Round of 32.
His influence only grew in the knockout rounds. Mbappe netted the decisive penalty to send France past Paraguay before opening the scoring in a 2-0 quarter-final victory over Morocco. Although he was kept quiet in the semi-final defeat to eventual champions Spain, he finished the tournament in style with another brace against England in the bronze-medal match.
Mbappe's 10-goal haul comfortably secured the Golden Boot ahead of Argentina captain Lionel Messi, who finished with eight goals, while England's Jude Bellingham ended the tournament third with seven.
The Real Madrid forward also collected the Bronze Ball after spearheading France's run to the semi-finals, capping another extraordinary World Cup campaign.
Having scored four goals during France's triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign and eight more at Qatar 2022, Mbappe has now elevated his legacy even further by becoming the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history.
On a stage he has long made his own, Mbappe once again proved that when the world watches, he delivers. Even without lifting the trophy, the French superstar left the tournament with another slice of history firmly in his grasp.
With IANS inputs