France 3-1 Senegal: Mbappé Brace Sends Him Above Messi and Into World Cup's All-Time Top Three

Kylian Mbappé wrote himself further into World Cup history at MetLife Stadium on Tuesday, scoring twice as France beat Senegal 3-1 in a Group I meeting that doubled as a rematch of one of the competition's most famous shocks. Twenty-four years after Senegal stunned the reigning champions 1-0 in the same fixture at the 2002 tournament, this version went the way the form book suggested — though not without late drama supplied by the African side.

France were patient rather than dominant for long stretches, and the breakthrough did not arrive until the 66th minute, when Michael Olise threaded a pass through a crowded box for Mbappé to convert. He doubled his tally barely sixty seconds later with a long-range strike from outside the area, the kind of finish that has defined his scoring across three World Cups. Substitute Bradley Barcola added a third in the 82nd minute, dinking a finish over the goalkeeper after a delicate ball from Adrien Rabiot, before Senegal's Ibrahim Mbaye gave the scoreline a respectable look with a driving solo goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time — only for Mbappé to answer immediately, completing his brace with a second strike in the very last action of the match.

The numbers attached to Mbappé's evening are difficult to overstate. His two goals took him to 58 for France, moving him past Olivier Giroud as the country's all-time leading scorer in any competition. At the World Cup specifically, he climbed to 14 career goals across three tournaments, vaulting above Lionel Messi, Pelé and Just Fontaine into the competition's all-time top three — leaving him two behind Miroslav Klose's record of 16, a mark Mbappé, at 27 and captaining a side many expect to contend deep into this tournament, now has a realistic chance of chasing down before his career is through.

For Senegal, the defeat is a setback but not a disaster in a fairly open Group I that also contains Norway, who beat Iraq on the same day. Aliou Cissé's side will need a response in their remaining fixtures to keep alive the prospect of repeating their run to the second round in 2022. France, by contrast, opened their bid for a third world title with both the result and the individual landmark they would have wanted, even if their finishing touch did not arrive until well past the hour mark.

Sources: ESPN — France 3-1 Senegal: Mbappé stunner seals win for Les Bleus after breathless second half · Al Jazeera — Mbappé becomes France's top scorer in 3-1 win over Senegal