Kylian Mbappe made an immediate mark at the 2026 World Cup, netting twice against Senegal in France's opening fixture to become his nation's outright all-time top scorer with 58 international goals — surpassing Olivier Giroud in the process.

His second strike, a fierce long-range effort, also drew him level with Gerd Muller on 14 World Cup goals. That tally began back in 2018 against Peru, when a 19-year-old Mbappe first signalled to the world that France possessed a generational talent.

Giroud on Mbappe's 2018 breakthrough

Mbappe finished that summer with four goals, including one in the final against Croatia in Moscow, as France lifted their second World Cup title. His then-strike partner Giroud has spoken to FourFourTwo about what it was like to witness that emergence from the inside.