Mbappé Hits Brace As France Routs Sweden 3-0

Kylian Mbappé, France's captain, spoke candidly after scoring twice in his team's dominant 3-0 rout of Sweden in the round of 32 on June 30, moving into a share of the Golden Boot lead. The 27-year-old striker has now netted six goals at the 2026 World Cup, tying him with Argentina's Lionel Messi for the tournament's top scorer while surpassing Germany legend Miroslav Klose, who holds the all-time World Cup scoring record with 18 goals.

Following the match, Mbappé reflected on his two-goal performance, saying: "I'm happy, but it's not the most important thing today. We continue to perform excellently."

When asked about the rivalry with Messi, Mbappé downplayed it: "I don't care what Messi does. He always scores. He has scored and he will continue to score. I've said it before—if I want to see what he does, I'd have to do even more."

Mbappé also spoke about his approach to the tournament: "I've said before that I want to fully enjoy this World Cup. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy previous ones, but I was younger then. I was focused on performing at my best. Today, I believe I can do both—perform excellently and enjoy it."

The Real Madrid forward also addressed his gesture of respect toward head coach Didier Deschamps after scoring: "Respect for Deschamps? That's the DNA of this group of players. We all work together. The coach has gone through some unfortunate things that everyone experiences at some point in life. It's incredibly difficult. He won't be alone with us. We'll support him."