French star Kylian Mbappé continued to shine at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, currently being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Mbappé opened the scoring for France in the quarter-final match against Morocco on Thursday evening local time, netting in the 60th minute of the game being played in Boston.
The goal came via a superb strike from the Real Madrid star, who shot from inside the penalty area, placing the ball to the left of Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who attempted to save it in vain as it found the back of the net.
The goal allowed Mbappé to make amends for a penalty he took in the first half that Bounou saved emphatically, bringing his tally to 8 goals in the current tournament and drawing level with Argentine Lionel Messi at the top of the World Cup scoring charts.
Mbappé also continued his pursuit of Messi in their race to top the all-time World Cup goalscorers list, reaching 20 goals across his tournament career — just 1 goal behind the Argentine, who leads the standings.
Mbappé scored 4 goals at the 2018 Russia World Cup and 8 goals at the 2022 edition in Qatar, where he claimed the Golden Boot, in addition to his 8 goals in the current tournament.
Notably, this was Mbappé's 64th goal for the French national team, for whom he has made 104 international appearances.
France defeated Morocco 2-0, courtesy of goals from Kylian Mbappé in the 60th minute and Ousmane Dembélé in the 66th minute, securing their place in the semi-finals, while Morocco were eliminated from the 2026 World Cup at the quarter-final stage.