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Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé are vying to become not just 2026 World Cup winners but also the greatest goalscorers in the history of the tournament. Here’s how they compare with others on the all-time listLionel Messi started his 2026 World Cup campaign with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria.The trio of strikes gave him a career total of 16 World Cup goals, equalling the existing record held by Miroslav Klose. It’s reasonable to expect the Inter Miami player to set a new mark this summer but he is being chased hard by Kylian Mbappé. He scored twice in France’s opening match victory against Senegal, giving him a total of 14 goals since his competition debut eight years ago.The list shows the top 20 World Cup goalscorers of all time, from data provided by Transfermarkt. If two players are tied, advantage is given to the man who made fewer appearances. England supporters will be hoping Harry Kane swiftly joins our list by adding to his eight goals.

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Didier Deschamps has an awkward question to answer: should he drop the Ballon d’Or holder?“If I start playing just to prove all of my critics wrong and to shut them up, I think I’d have to keep playing until I was 80,” said Kylian Mbappé as he wrote his name in the history books, surpassing Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time top scorer. He insists that his 57th and 58th goals for the national team – which secured a 3-1 win over Senegal in their World Cup opener – were not about “revenge”. But they were at least a response.Mbappé is not someone who does all his talking on the pitch. Speaking before Euro 2024, he referred to himself in the third person as he announced his opposition to far-right politicians. “Kylian Mbappé is against extreme views and against ideas that divide people,” he said two years ago. I want to be proud to represent France. I don’t want to represent a country that doesn’t correspond to my values, or our values.”The France captain made similar comments in the buildup to this World Cup. This time, his objection to the far right drew criticism from Michel Platini, who told Mbappé to remain politically neutral. “You are playing for all French people,” Platini said. “Once you take a stand, you fall out with half of the world.”Deschamps says that when Mbappé speaks, he knows he does so “for all the players” and his viewpoint is shared by the dressing room. It doesn’t make him popular, however. Polling shows that Mbappé’s popularity is on the slide and has been since his exit from Paris Saint-Germain two years ago. He is acutely aware of public perception. “I am hated enough as it is,” he replied when asked about becoming the president of his country.Before he even considers a political career, he has a World Cup to win. France’s dual-executive, semi-presidential system nicely encapsulates Mbappé’s predicament on the pitch: he needs a prime minister who will support rather than stymie him. An Mbappé-Ousmane Dembélé government would be an awkward cohabitation. Dembélé has excelled since moving into the No 9 position at PSG under Luis Enrique, winning the Champions League twice and the Ballon d’Or. At international level, though, that position is already taken.Having previously been picked on the wing, Dembélé has been given a run through the middle in recent games, albeit in a No 10 role. He was ineffective in the position in France’s warm-up match against Northern Ireland and again against Senegal in their opener. Only Mbappé (37) had fewer touches than the PSG forward (40). The failure, granted, was a collective one; France failed to muster a single shot on target in the first half. Dembélé’s blocked long-range effort was their only shot at all.At club level, Mbappé, Dembélé, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué scored 97 goals between them last season and, including assists, were involved in 157 goals. Given the attacking potential in the team, there was clearly a bug in the system against Senegal.Deschamps identified it at half-time. Dembélé was moved out to the right and Olise brought into the middle. The manager explained his decision: “We were a lot better when Michael was positioned in the middle. I did it because I thought it would provide more of a link. Michael can play on both sides, but the more he gets on the ball, the better.”Specifically, it is better for Mbappé. Olise would be the candidate of choice in Mbappé’s hypothetical government. To borrow an American perspective, Olise is the quarter-back and Mbappé is the runner, frequently found. As the Bayern Munich forward threaded the ball through for Mbappé to open the scoring, Dembélé could be seen advising a more conservative backwards pass. But Mbappé knew the pass would come and Olise knew the run would be made.While different in profile, Olise is essentially the replacement for Antoine Griezmann. The former Atlético Madrid forward is the player with whom Mbappé has played most at international level (83 times). No player has provided Mbappé more assists than Griezmann. His retirement from international football left a void but it is now being filled.Their combination was key to unlocking a game that, for more than an hour, provided plenty of cause for concern for Deschamps. France lacked creativity in midfield and variety in attack. Dembélé, Olise and Doué all wanted to occupy the same areas and there was a lack of forward runs from the wide players. Deschamps opted to start Doué, more technically gifted, rather than Bradley Barcola, a direct runner who stretches defences. Barcola’s goal from off the bench could provide Deschamps with food for thought before the Iraq game next Monday.This is a team built around Mbappé and the win against Senegal justifies his stature as the centrepiece of a highly talented attacking armada. At 27, he has already made history. He is not only France’s all-time leading scorer but, with 14 goals at World Cups, he has also surpassed Just Fontaine’s record for goals at the tournament. As he prepares to win his 100th cap, he provides assurances that others simply do not, as talented as they may be.“Even if he can’t have a great game, in one action he can make his team win,” said Deschamps after the Senegal win. Mbappé is the exclamation mark at the end of moves; his long-range finish to seal the game was just his fourth from outside the box in a France shirt. He is gradually becoming the traditional No 9 that France have lacked since Giroud’s retirement – a fox in the box.As a result, he needs service and Olise is the one who provides it. It leaves difficult questions about Dembélé’s position and, perhaps, even his place in the team. The reality may be uncomfortable but the decision is being taken out of Deschamps’ hands. It is France’s dual-executives, Mbappé and Olise, who will be the difference between success and failure.This is an article by Get French Football News

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With France captain in spotlight at team hotel and in home press, head coach tries to pull focus ahead of World Cup opener against SenegalSince France arrived at their World Cup base in Boston last week they have been a regular source of fascination for locals. Crowds of mostly young people have formed outside Les Bleus’ downtown hotel to cheer the team as they leave for training. All the players are met with pleas for waves and autographs, but the roar that meets Kylian Mbappé is of a different order altogether.Mbappé is one of a small number of contemporary footballers whose names have cut through with the US public (though he is not yet a mononym, unlike Messi). As France begin their quest for a third World Cup he is inevitably the focus back home too, not least after giving an interview to Le Parisien at the weekend in which he denied ambitions of one day becoming president of France, saying: “I’m hated enough as it is!”For Didier Deschamps, the question of how to handle the Mbappé phenomenon is one of many that require striking a delicate balance. Fortunately, the 57-year-old has some experience in the demands and contradictions of leading a top international team. Speaking on the eve of their Group I opener against Senegal, with all the extra distractions of 2002 and all that, the French head coach was set on turning down the temperature.Deschamps has been steadfast in his support for his captain in the buildup to the tournament as Mbappé’s public opposition to far-right politics in France has led to criticism from figures such as Michel Platini. Mbappé was not present at France’s pre-match press conference, with N’Golo Kanté speaking instead. Deschamps denied this had anything to do with any public remarks or controversy, but also said: “My priority is to protect my players.”Asked whether the extent of Mbappé’s fame meant he had to take a different approach to managing him, Deschamps did not demur. “I speak to [Mbappé] very often and he’s a world-famous player even in the US but it’s his life,” he said. “He manages himself. Kylian is Kylian. The younger generation, the less younger, love him everywhere in the world, but that doesn’t mean he’s not normal when he plays and when he’s in the group. This has got nothing to do with why he is not here today.”Only four members of the squad that won the World Cup in 2018 remain, Mbappé and Kanté among them. Another is the reigning Ballon d’Or, Ousmane Dembélé, who is also the focus of pre-tournament expectations, with the hope he can bring his club form to the international stage, where he has seven goals from 59 caps. Here, the messaging from Deschamps is different, as he chose to lower any pressure on the Paris Saint-Germain forward. “Ousmane is concerned and concentrated like all the other players, but there clearly is a desire to be very good and to be decisive, just like he is regularly with his club, PSG,” he said.Dembélé has been given extra time to recover from last month’s Champions League final, with Deschamps adding intriguingly that his place in the team against Senegal would be dependent on “physical and probably more importantly psychological” considerations. “If he’s at his top level it will be a plus for the French squad,” he said.All the individual deflections add up to a cumulative approach from Deschamps as he enters his final tournament as French head coach: he wants to dial down any suggestions that his team are the favourites to win this World Cup. “France has the ability to win … but so do six or seven other nations,” he said. “The way there is going to be hard. Of course, France has high-level potential because of the results it has produced over the last two World Cups. We’ve also got many high-quality players for whom this will be their first World Cup. And so I don’t want to paint the French squad as better than the others.”Deschamps eventually left the bowels of the New York New Jersey Stadium looking relaxed, and feigned shock when told in parting that his training session that afternoon would be, briefly, open to the media. Much of his team may not have seen anything like this World Cup before, but the coach and his key lieutenants are accustomed to the scrutiny.