Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe will reach a personal record when France face Iraq in Philadelphia on Monday, winning his 100th international cap just days after becoming his country’s all-time leading scorer.
“It is always a pleasure to have the chance to play for your country,” Mbappe said. “There is nothing bigger – one hundred is a historic figure, and to have the chance to reach that tally here at a World Cup means it will be a special match for me.”
The 27-year-old becomes only the 10th French player to reach a century of caps, though he remains some distance from Hugo Lloris’s national record of 145 appearances.
Mbappe overtook Olivier Giroud as France’s record scorer with a brace against Senegal, moving to 58 international goals. His World Cup record is equally striking – 14 goals in just 15 appearances, leaving him two behind the all-time tournament record of 16, a mark held solely by Germany’s Miroslav Klose until Lionel Messi equalled it against Algeria last week.
“I knew Leo Messi would score goals, he always does,” Mbappe said. “He has the record, I am just behind and I will keep trying to score goals. That will bring me closer to the record, but the most important thing is going as far as possible with my team.”
The Real Madrid forward also opened up on a potential future in Major League Soccer, admitting David Beckham regularly raises the idea with him, though he ruled out playing into his forties in the way Cristiano Ronaldo has. “I won’t be doing this at 40, you will have got rid of me by then,” he joked.
France can secure their place in the knockout rounds with victory over Iraq.
– AFP
Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
