Mbappe leads Golden Boot race after two goals against Poland

KATHMANDU: France forward Kylian Mbappe scored a brace in the 3-1 win against Poland in the round of 16 clash of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Sunday, making him the sole leader in the Golden Boot race with five goals.

France bs Poland Blog

The 23-year-old was earlier tied for the top spot with Lionel Messi, Enner Valencia, Cody Gakpo, Marcus Rashford, Alvaro Morata and compatriot Olivier Giroud at three goals. Giroud scored his third goal against Poland after an assist from Mbappe in the 44th minute.

Half an hour later, Mbappe scored one himself with a right-footed curler beating a diving Polish goalkeeper Wozciech Szczesny to make it 2-0 for France. He added one more to his tally in the first minute of stoppage time.

Golden Boot Leaderboard

Mbappe opened his account in Qatar with a goal in the first group match against Australia. He followed it with a brace to lead defending champion to a 2-1 win over Denmark second group match and confirm a spot in the round of 16. In the final group stage fixture which France lost 0-1 to Tunisia, Mbappe was brought onto the pitch as a substitute by coach Didier Deschamps in the 63rd minute but could not find the back of the net.

Four years ago, Mbappe had scored four goals in his debut World Cup campaign when France won the title in Russia. His first goal against Peru in that tournament made him the youngest French goalscorer in World Cup history at the age of 19 years.