Mbappe ready for ‘special’ 100th cap for France at World Cup

PHILADELPHIA: Kylian Mbappe has already reached one major landmark at this year’s World Cup by becoming his country’s all-time top scorer, and on Monday he will hit another when the France skipper wins his 100th international cap against Iraq.

“It is always a pleasure to have the chance to play for your country. There is nothing bigger – one hundred is a historic figure, and to have the chance to reach that tally here at a World Cup means it will be a special match for me,” Mbappe told reporters Sunday in Philadelphia, where the teams will clash in Group I.

He will become the 10th French player to reach a century of caps but is still a long way away from the record of 145 appearances held by his former teammate, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

“The importance and the stakes of the match are what really matter and we need a win to go through,” insisted Mbappe.

He made his debut for France as an 18-year-old in 2017, and on Monday he became his country’s leading marksman of all time with a brace in the 3-1 win over Senegal at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

That took him past Olivier Giroud’s previous record of 57 goals to set a new mark, with 58.

It is fitting that these landmarks have come at the World Cup, a tournament which has defined his career since he revealed himself on the global stage in the France team that won the trophy in Russia in 2018.

He scored four goals in that tournament and eight in Qatar four years ago, including a stunning hat-trick in the final which Les Bleus lost on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

“I am aware of what it means to be at a World Cup here and representing over 67 million French people,” said the 27-year-old Real Madrid forward.

“I just want to go down in history for my country. I think a lot of players, given the stakes of a World Cup, don’t fully enjoy it, but I just try to enjoy it, I know how lucky I am.

“I know I have the quality but you still need to go out and show it on the biggest stage at a World Cup and I don’t think a double in the first game is enough to show the full extent of my talent.”

MLS one day? 

That sounded like a warning to outsiders Iraq, against whom another France win will send the tournament favourites on their way to the knockout stages.

Mbappe has 14 World Cup goals from just 15 appearances, and he is just two away from matching the overall tournament goals record – that was held before this year by Germany’s Miroslav Klose with 16, and equalled by Messi when he scored a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria last Tuesday.

“I knew Leo Messi would score goals, he always does. He has the record, I am just behind and I will keep trying to score goals,” Mbappe said.

“That will bring me closer to the record, but the most important thing is going as far as possible with my team.”

Mbappe seems to be especially loving being one of the star names at a World Cup in the United States, and he suggested that he might eventually like to play in Major League Soccer later in his career.

“Of course, the culture is different to ours in Europe, and I have always liked that – the fact that people have ambitions with no limits and are not afraid to say it,” he admitted.

“Will I come here at the end of my career? I don’t know. David Beckham often asks me. We will see, but it is a country I like and I am happy to be here.”

However, he did indicate that he might not still be playing at World Cups into his forties, like Cristiano Ronaldo at this year’s edition.

“I won’t be doing this at 40, you will have got rid of me by then,” he joked.