Kylian Mbappé Chasing World Cup Glory and Records

Kylian Mbappé is chasing history, but he is hunting something far bigger than a number on a scoresheet.

On a humid night in the round of 32, the 27-year-old tore through Sweden with the cold efficiency of a man who knows exactly where his summer is supposed to end: New York, July 19, with the World Cup trophy in his hands.

France’s 3-0 win felt routine on the scoreboard. It was anything but for the record books. Mbappé’s double pushed him to 18 World Cup goals in just 18 games, one behind Lionel Messi’s all-time mark of 19. He also moved level with the Argentine at the top of this tournament’s charts on six goals.

He shrugged at the numbers.

“I think the goal, as I said, is to go as far as possible – to make it to (the final on) July 19th and come back here,” he told reporters, his eyes already drifting toward the bracket rather than the rankings.

He knows how the narrative reads. Every strike drags him closer to Messi, every finish another step toward the summit of World Cup scoring. But he pushed that subplot away with the same ease he glided past Swedish defenders.

“We’re trying to win; we’re taking it one step at a time. Of course, the more goals you score, the higher you climb in the rankings – I’m not telling anyone anything new there.

“But I’m also convinced that Leo is going to score more goals, so I don’t focus too much on that. I’m more focused on the opponents we might face and how close we’re getting to our goal: the final.”

Messi’s path looks gentle on paper. Argentina meet Cape Verde in the last 32 on Friday, a mismatch in pedigree if not in pressure. France’s route is far more rugged, starting with a Paraguay side that has already ripped up one heavyweight’s script.

France braced for Paraguay’s wall

Paraguay arrive in Philadelphia on Saturday with a plan that worked brutally well against Germany. They dug in, defended with 10 behind the ball, and survived long enough to knock the four-time world champions out on penalties.

No one expects them to open up now.

There will be no swashbuckling underdogs. There will be a low block, a deep line, and long stretches where France push and prod in front of a red and white wall.

Mbappé knows it. He sounded almost like a coach as he laid out what comes next.

“I think we’ll keep working between now and the Paraguay match to see what we can improve, because there are still some sequences that aren't quite clear enough, there’s room for improvement,” he said.

“Still, I think it’s positive overall, and our ability to score goals means we always have the chance to take the lead in matches.”

Win there and France would meet either co-hosts Canada or Morocco in the quarter-finals. The bracket is already wobbling after Germany and the Netherlands were both dumped out on penalties by Paraguay and Morocco. No one in the French camp will need reminding that reputations are counting for very little at this World Cup.

Yet for all the tactical talk, one image from the Sweden game cut through more than any heat map or passing network: Mbappé sprinting to the touchline to embrace Didier Deschamps after scoring.

The coach is grieving the recent death of his mother. The squad know it. Their celebration was not choreographed; it was instinct.

“I think that reflects the spirit of this group – it’s part of our DNA. We are all together,” Mbappé told beIN Sports. “We know the coach has been through a difficult experience; unfortunately, everyone goes through that at some point and it's very hard.”

France are playing for records, for a title, and, in their own way, for their coach. That combination tends to harden a team rather than soften it.

Belgium’s golden generation on the clock

On the other side of the draw, Belgium are trying to squeeze one more deep run out of a golden generation that has already tasted both glory and failure.

They have cleared the first hurdle. Top of Group G, a 5-1 dismantling of New Zealand in their final group match, and a place in the knockouts secured with something to spare. It already represents an improvement on the debacle of Qatar 2022, when they crashed out in the group stage, a far cry from their third-place finish in Russia four years earlier.

Coach Rudi Garcia, though, was in no mood to declare the mission accomplished.

“We wanted to finish first in the group stage and we succeeded,” he said in French. “Of course we wanted to win more — we know the story of our World Cup so far. Now it is time for the knockout phase. Senegal is a big team. But, you have to beat them, too, if you want to go far in a World Cup.”

Belgium’s record so far – one win, two draws – hints at a side still searching for top gear. The next test, in Seattle against Senegal, will reveal whether that gear still exists for a core led by Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Senegal finished only third in Group I, but that line alone is deceptive. They survived a brutal section featuring tournament favourite France and an Erling Haaland-led Norway, emerging with three points and a plus-2 goal difference. They have scars, but also rhythm.

“We know it will be a tough match,” Lukaku said in French. “Senegal has a lot of top-level players, and the coach is, too. I think it’s 50-50. We really shouldn’t underestimate them.”

His warning aged fast. Within hours, Germany had gone out to Paraguay on penalties and Morocco had sent the Netherlands home earlier than at any World Cup in their history.

If anyone in Belgium’s camp needed a reminder, forward Charles De Ketelaere delivered it bluntly.

“It doesn’t matter who the favorite is,” he said. “We have confidence and need to be sharp. Yesterday showed that it doesn’t matter if you are the favorite.”

Belgium’s defensive platform has at least been solid. With Thibaut Courtois in goal, they have conceded just two in three games. That stability will be tested by a Senegal side that just put five past Iraq in a 5-0 rout and arrive with Sadio Mané in menacing form.

Senegal’s problem lies at the other end. Goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, injured in a 3-2 loss to Norway, will not play. Coach Pape Thiaw confirmed that reserve Mory Diaw, who kept a clean sheet against Iraq, is likely to start again.

“Mory had a great performance,” Thiaw said in French. “He kept a clean sheet and I think (as) the goalkeeper tomorrow, we hope that we’ll also come up with a clean sheet.”

Thiaw has watched the chaos unfold around him. He sees an opening.

“It’s not because you finished top of your group that you’re not going to be knocked out in the next round,” he said. “That’s exactly what happened with the Netherlands. It’s another tournament starting. We are looking for the win tomorrow so that we can continue our journey.”

There is some good news for Belgium. Center back Zeno Debast, yet to feature this summer because of a left leg injury, is back with the group. He trained for the first time on Monday after an MRI on Saturday and again on Tuesday, his left knee taped.

“Zeno Debast is with the group, but tomorrow is still too soon,” Garcia said. “He is making progress, though. He still needs time to get fully fit, as was anticipated. I am very satisfied with the defenders we have already called upon.”

Satisfied or not, the margin for error for this generation is shrinking fast. Senegal will test whether Belgium are still a contender or merely a memory.

England walk the tightrope

England know exactly what happens to big names who start believing their own billing. Two European powers are already gone. They do not want to be the third.

Thomas Tuchel’s side face the Democratic Republic of Congo in Atlanta on Wednesday, with a place in the last 16 on the line and a 60-year wait for a major trophy hanging over every touch.

“I feel it is a privilege to be in these situations. I think we can just accept it, we are the favorites (against DR Congo),” Tuchel said on Tuesday.

Then came the sting.

“The games so far in round of 32 speak a very clear language. It's narrow, narrow margins.”

England will lean heavily on Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, their world-class axis through midfield and attack. They will have to do it without Reece James, the influential defender ruled out through injury, a loss that strips some thrust from the right flank.

Across from them stands a DR Congo squad that looks like a footballing diaspora stitched into a single shirt. Of the 26 players, 20 were born outside the country, most in France. Yoane Wissa is a familiar face to English fans from the Premier League, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe both represented England at youth level before pledging to the African nation.

Coach Sebastien Desabre made it clear where he believes the burden lies.

“Our World Cup is already a success relative to our goals,” the Frenchman said. “The pressure is on the England team.”

He is right. England carry the weight of expectation; DR Congo carry the freedom of a side that has already gone further than many predicted.

USA step into the spotlight

If England are wrestling with history, the United States are trying to write it.

In a crowded American sports landscape, football has been clawing for space. On Wednesday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, it gets a primetime stage and a chance to change its own story.

The USA face Bosnia-Herzegovina in what the players know is the biggest match in the nation’s football history. Up to 30 million viewers are expected to watch Christian Pulisic and his teammates chase a first World Cup knockout win in almost 25 years.

“Everyone knows in the back of our minds what this could do for this country,” midfielder Gio Reyna said.

“We feel the country rallying around us. We see the momentum it's bringing to the sport in this country, just through the group stage. But we also understand if we make a nice run in this tournament, what it could really do for the sport.”

The stakes go beyond the scoreboard. A win would not only extend their World Cup; it would push the sport deeper into the American mainstream.

Haaland breaks new ground

While giants fall and favourites sweat, one of the game’s most feared finishers quietly ticked off a milestone of his own.

Erling Haaland poked home the decisive goal in Norway’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast, a strike that carried his country into the last 16 for the first time. It was not a thunderbolt, not a spectacular overhead kick, just a predator’s touch at the key moment.

For Norway, that is enough. They are in uncharted territory, with Haaland leading them into the knockouts and a belief that this is only the beginning.

Across the tournament, the pattern is clear. The old certainties have crumbled. Germany and the Netherlands are gone. Paraguay and Morocco are still dancing. Senegal and DR Congo smell opportunity. The USA sense a cultural shift. Belgium cling to one last shot. Norway arrive at the party at last.

And above it all, Mbappé and Messi keep scoring, their duel stretching across continents and eras.

One is chasing a record. Both are chasing the same prize.

Only one of them can lift it in New York on July 19.