Mbappe magic again! French star equals Messi's World Cup goals tally with brace against Denmark; fans thrilled
Kylian Mbappe's brace against Denmark seals defending champions France's berth in the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup 2022. The 23-year-old sensational star now has as many World Cup goals (7) as Argentinian legend and PSG teammate Lionel Messi, sparking massive jubilation among fans.
FollowDoha's Stadium 974 witnessed a night of Kylian Mbappe's magic as a brace from the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star powered France to a 2-1 victory over Denmark at the Qatar World Cup 2022 on Saturday. With this win, Didier Deschamp's men become the first team to book their place in the last 16 of the showpiece event.
Olivier Giroud was given the opening opportunity of the game in the 10th minute, but despite being in a good position, he could only swipe at nothing. Kasper Schmeichel, the goalkeeper for Denmark, then needed to be alert to stop Adrien Rabiot from scoring a header similar to the one he scored last week against Australia.
The next to come near was Jules Kounde, whose shot passed Schmeichel but was stopped by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the goal line. At the opposite end, Andreas Cornelius for Denmark had a chance to score, but he could only miss the near post.
Earlier in the first half, Mbappé forced Schmeichel to make another strong stop before Antoine Griezmann blasted over the bar. But the breakthrough did arrive quickly. Theo Hernandez's cut-back found Mbappe in the box, and the striker used a tiny deflection to side-foot past Schmeichel.
However, the world champions' advantage was short-lived as Andreas Christensen of Denmark quickly matched the score in the 68th minute by stooping to head in a corner that had been deflected into him on the edge of the six-yard box.
In the 80th minute, Rabiot nearly put his team back in the lead, but his acrobatic volley just missed the crossbar. Martin Braithwaite then had an opportunity to give the Danes the lead at the other end but could only shoot into the side netting.
They later came to regret that mistake when Mbappe scored again in the 86th minute to make it 2-1 by converting Griezmann's exquisite cross with his thigh from close range.
Interestingly, Mbappe now has as many World Cup goals (7) as Argentinian superstar and PSG teammate Lionel Messi. Messi will have a chance to add to his World Cup goals tally when the South American giants face Mexico in a must-win clash after losing to Saudi Arabia 1-2 earlier this week.
At 23, Mbappe also now has more World Cup goals than the legendary Frenchmen Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, who have 5 goals each against their names in the showpiece tournament's history.
"Kylian Mbappe (7) now has as many World Cup goals as Lionel Messi, and more than Thierry Henry (6). He just keeps getting better ad better," said one user of Twitter heaping praises of the PSG star.
Another fan noted, "No way Mbappe tied Messi's WC goals while Messi has played in 5 WC's compared to Mbappe's 2."
UtdFaithfuls remarked, "Kylian Mbappe is surely the next best player in the world after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It's just a matter of "WHEN" he wins the Ballon d'Or."
Here's a look at some of the reactions to Mbappe's magic against Denmark:
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