William Saliba believes Kylian Mbappe has what it takes to break the World Cup goalscoring record after becoming France’s all-time top goalscorer.
Mbappe scored twice against Senegal as he drew level, then overtook Olivier Giroud to become France’s record goalscorer with his 57th and 58th goal for his country, as Les Blues secured a 3-1 win in their World Cup opener.
With one personal accolade out of the way, the 27-year-old’s 14 goals is now just two behind the World Cup top scoring record held by Germany’s Miroslav Klose, and Saliba is confident his captain has all it takes to overtake the German.
“Of course. I think he has everything to beat the record. So I hope he’s going to do it this tournament because for sure he has everything and I’m sure he will do it.
“I think it’s crazy. Because to be the all-time leading scorer for the French national team, and also, he’s not far from being the all-time leading scorer in the World Cup. I think what he’s doing is incredible.
“And I’m sure he won’t stop there. And I certainly hope so. We know the kind of player he is. We know how important he is to us.”
Shortly after conceding in the 95th minute to PSG and Senegal youngster Ibrahim Mbaye to make the score 2-1, Mbappe picked up the ball from 30-yards out and fired a stunning strike past Édouard Mendy to confirm France’s winning start to the tournament.
“It was crazy from where I was because we just conceded the first goal thirty seconds before, and just one minute after we scored a goal. So yeah I was happy. Crazy goal.”