Following a stellar performance where he scored twice in France’s 3-0 Round of 32 victory over Sweden, Kylian Mbappé has closed the gap on Lionel Messi’s legendary status, bringing his career World Cup tally to 18 goals in 18 matches and tying Messi at the top of this edition’s scoring charts with six goals. Despite being just one goal away from matching Messi’s all-time World Cup record of 19 goals, the 27-year-old French forward emphasized that he is completely focused on lifting the championship trophy in New York on July 19 rather than winning individual accolades. Acknowledging that Messi is bound to score more for Argentina as the tournament progresses, Mbappé reiterated that his priority is taking the competition one step at a time and preparing for their upcoming Round of 16 clash against a highly defensive Paraguay side in Philadelphia, who recently shocked the tournament by eliminating Germany on penalties.