Even with loss, Kylian Mbappé's World Cup legacy among the best: Goals and stats
· Yahoo Sports
One of France's greatest soccer players of all time will not get the opportunity to bring another World Cup title home this year.
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Les Bleus lost to Spain in the semifinal on Tuesday, July 14, eliminating them from title contention and denying them a third straight final appearance. Spain proved it was much better than its opponent, and the dominant victory was largely achieved by shutting down France's biggest star, Kylian Mbappé.
He was held scoreless for just the second time in seven matches in this tournament, and his three shots were the fewest he has taken in any match of the 2026 World Cup. He also had zero shots on the goal, the first time that's happened to him in the tournament since the 2022 World Cup semifinal.
A disappointing outing for Mbappé and France, given how supreme the French looked all tournament, seemingly poised to win their second title in three tournaments. It's not the finish they envisioned, but it hardly tarnishes the reputation of Mbappé at the World Cup, and he still has one more match in 2026 to make even more history.
Kylian Mbappé World Cup legacy: career numbers
Mbappé remains one of the best players in World Cup history. He's already scored 20 goals, second most all-time and one behind leader Lionel Messi.
How Mbappé has done it is even more impressive. He's scored those 20 goals in just 21 matches played, an impressive 0.95 goals per contest. That is hard to maintain for so long. While it's not the best average, the only other person to sustain that level of consistency this century is Erling Haaland ... who netted five goals in seven matches in his World Cup debut this year.
Mbappé's mark also includes six braces in his World Cup career, the most of any player, with three of them coming in 2026. Pretty remarkable, considering only three of those goals came off penalty kicks.
Is Kylian Mbappé greatest French soccer player ever?
His goals output is just one reason why Mbappé is being compared to Messi and France icon Zinedine Zidane.
Statistically, Mbappé is better than Zidane, who had five goals in 12 career World Cup matches. They both took France to two World Cup finals, while also winning it once.
Zidane is beloved in France, considered by many to be the best midfielder of all time and will always be at the top of French soccer history for winning the country's first World Cup title in 1998.
Even though he insists he isn't anywhere near the technical master that Zidane was, it's hard to argue against Mbappé being the best French player in soccer history. It's also hard to deny him being one of the top soccer players in the world − if not the best.
"He’s shown during 15 years that he has an amazing quality," Mbappé said of Messi earlier in the tournament, "Me, I try to do what I can do, I show my quality on the biggest stage, helping my team to win another World Cup."
Kylian Mbappé still chasing World Cup history
The third place match isn't what Mbappé wanted, but opportunity awaits in it.
With eight goals in the tournament, he's tied with Messi for first in the race for the Golden Boot. Messi also still has two matches possible, but Mbappé still has a chance to take over the World Cup all-time goal record − at the age of 27.
If he also wins the Golden Boot, Mbappé will be the first player ever to win it in back-to-back World Cups after he took it home in 2022.
Mbappé burst onto the scene at 18 years old, moving to Paris Saint-Germain and making sure everyone in the world knew who he was when he led his nation to the World Cup title in his tournament debut in 2018. The spotlight has shined on him since on soccer's greatest stages, and he has continuously delivered each time, with no indication he is ending this run anytime soon.
The 2026 World Cup isn't the ending Mbappé wanted, but he can cap it off by making more history − and asserting himself as one of the global game's greats.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Even with loss, Kylian Mbappé's World Cup legacy among the best: Goals and stats