Kylian Mbappe Becomes France’s Youngest World Cup Goalscorer

19-year-old PSG forward Kylian Mbappe, already the game’s second-most expensive player ever and the winner of the prestigious 2017 Golden Boy award, has become the youngest goalscorer for France at any major international tournament after opening the scoring for Les Bleus against Peru.

Paul Pogba did all the heavy lifting, again, for France after taking the ball off Paolo Guerrero and slipping in Olivier Giroud, but Mbappe was on hand to tap-in after the Chelsea striker’s initial effort was blocked and sent on a looping trajectory over Peru’s keeper. 

#MundialTelemundo REVIVE el gol de @KMbappe de #FRA, que marca su primer gol en los mundiales con 19 años y 183 días. pic.twitter.com/TDjRFkQXge

— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 21, 2018

19 - Kylian Mbappe (19 years & 6 months) is the youngest France player ever to score in a major tournament (World Cup + EURO). Speechless.
#WorldCup#FRAPER pic.twitter.com/XqteY8tEM6

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 21, 2018

Mbappe now has five goals in 17 appearances for France, and his goal puts him up there with the youngest goal scorers in the history of the competition. The youngest goalscorer in World Cup history is Pele, who scored against Sweden at the 1958 World Cup at the tender age of 17 years and 249 days. 

Other preposterously young World Cup scorers includes Mexico’s Manuel “Chaquetas” Rosas, who held the record until Pele broke it, England’s Michael Owen, Romania’s Nicolae Kovacs and Russia’s Dmitri Sychev. 

19 years and 183 days. pic.twitter.com/EtUNmqHOeQ

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 21, 2018

Mbappe is the first teenager to score at the World Cup since the USA’s Julian Green. The Frenchman should be an absolute force at the 2022 World Cup . . . and the 2026 one . . . and the 2030 one.