Kylian Mbappe Beats Messi To The Golden Boot: Equals Pele’s Record

Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe managed to retain at least one trophy from Lionel Messi at the World Cup when he became the second player to score a hat trick in the final, with 8 goals at the Qatar edition of the World Cup, he managed to edge past Messi’s 7 goals and claim the Golden Boot at the 22nd edition of the premier world football tournament.

For Mbappe, the Golden Boot is another piece of individual hardware at a World Cup that follows the FIFA Young Player Award he claimed in 2018. Both Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi were evenly matched at five goals each before the final. His hat trick at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Sunday took his tally to 8 goals, while Messi’s two goals at the finals took his tally to 7.

Kylian Mbappe becomes only the 2nd person to score a hat trick in a FIFA World Cup final after England Geoff Hurst, who scored in 1966, the only time when England lifted the World Cup after defeating Germany.

Kylian Mbappe Heroics Not Enough For France At The Finals

But Mbappe’s heroics was not enough to see Les Blues through to the title as it finally lost out 4-2 on penalties after Argentina prevailed after an epic 3-all draw. The 23-year-old French player’s 8 goals come in 7 appearances for his country. He also scored another goal in the tie-breaker though that would not count in his total.

He becomes only the 2nd Frenchman ever to end a World Cup at the top of the scoring list. The only other to finish at the World Cup was Just Fontaine, though the FIFA World Cups golden boot award only started officially in 1982 and was known as the Golden Shoe till the 2006 World Cup. Paolo Rossi was awarded the first Golden Shoe in 1982. Kylian Mbappe had an overall excellent World Cup personally but missed out on winning a second straight title.