French superstar Kylian Mbappé has scored 20 World Cup goals in 20 World Cup appearances. He’s poised to take the pitch again Tuesday against Spain in the 2026 World Cup, according to his manager, Didier Deschamps, who told reporters that Mbappé is “100%” heading into the semifinal match.
Mbappé left France’s quarterfinal victory over Morocco last week in the 77th minute with what he characterized as a “minor ankle injury,” per The Athletic. Even though Mbappé, 27, downplayed the potential issue following the match, the Real Madrid forward’s status has been monitored with a keen eye in the days since that Thursday scare.
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Deschamps’ comments followed a report from RMC Sport that suggested Mbappé was still feeling discomfort in his dinged-up right ankle. Mbappé reportedly trained separately from most teammates during the early part of a training session that was open to media on Monday.
Deschamps, though, noted via an interpreter that Mbappé “feels good” and minimized the portion of practice reporters watched, according to The Athletic.
“He has the right, like others, to go 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes on a drill,” Deschamps reportedly said.
Mbappé has served as France’s captain since March 2023. He’s piled up eight goals in this year’s World Cup, plus three assists that could make the difference in the Golden Boot race. Assists, after all, are the tiebreaker in that goal-scoring competition. They’re the reason why he’s currently ahead of Argentine legend Lionel Messi despite Messi also sitting at eight goals. Messi, who will play England in a semifinal match Wednesday, has two helpers so far.
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Messi, 39, is the current record holder with 21 World Cup goals. In this year’s tournament, he and Mbappé have each topped Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16 goals), the previous all-time leading goal scorer in men’s World Cup history, and Brazil’s Marta (17 goals), who’s still atop the women’s World Cup goal-scoring leaderboard.
Mbappé won the Golden Boot during the 2022 World Cup, which culminated in his squad falling to Argentina in a nail-biting final that went to penalty kicks. Messi has never won the Cup’s Golden Boot.
They’re on a collision course for another showdown this year that could decide the winner of both the Cup and the Golden Boot.
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