Can't prove the naysayers - Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé, France's record goalscorer, says he is focused on winning the World Cup and will not prove himself to his opponents. He added two goals in a 3-1 opening win over Senegal.
France's new record goalscorer Kylian Mbappé says he won't prove himself to opponents at the World Cup. Instead, he aims to lead France to victory. In his opening match, in a 3–1 win over Senegal, Mbappé scored two goals, including a superb strike from the floor.
With the win, Mbappé surpassed Olivier Giroud's tally of 58 goals. Mbappé became the third player to score in the 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions of the World Cup, joining Michel Blatini and Dominic Rossetto.
Mbappé, 27, has now scored 14 World Cup goals. Although Lyon overtook Messi, Messi scored a hat-trick against Algeria in the next match to make it 16 goals.
Mbappé is welcome in France after scoring 43 goals for Real Madrid. "I'm playing to go down in history for my country and to take my team to the end and win the World Cup," Mbappé said after the match.
"I don't answer to the opposition. I don't play for everyone, I want to go to 80. I only score for my family.
"When we win, it's nice, but it's not always peaceful at the World Cup. We've seen it when other teams - winning isn't always easy.
"It's not easy, but we know we can score anytime."
Mbappé was inconsistent in the first half. But, in the second half, he and his two goals secured a 3-1 win.
"It was a shock," said Didier Deschamps. "We were scared and stressed at times. They are a good team. We were able to switch places with Ozuman and Michael and play freely."
"Winning in the first match is not the deciding factor. France fans travel from far away and it's expensive. Winning is magic."
"We couldn't execute our game plan," Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy said. "We need to raise our level in the second half and have a bigger lead."
"We've only done it a few times, but you have to be careful with teams like this because you're playing against talent."
"We forgot the first match, we have to learn from it and focus on Norway."
