The group stage of this chaotic World Cup, which has seen goals scored left, right, and center, is over. There have been 15 braces scored, but Kylian Mbappe's most recent one helped France defeat Poland 3-1 and advance to the round of eight. Mbappe is now in charge of the World Cup after that brace.
When he scored the first goal just before halftime, Olivier Giroud overtook Thierry Henry as the all-time leading scorer in France.
Poland didn't have many opportunities to score before that goal or to tie the score, but even with that deficit, they continued to pose a threat.
With only 16 minutes remaining, Mbappe doubled the lead with a coolly taken but excellent finish, effectively ending the game.
Before the ball reached Mbappe on the edge of the box, Ousmane Dembele broke through the meek Polish defense while Giroud dislodged defenders.
The PSG star was unmarked and effortlessly maneuvered past Wojciech Szczesny to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
With his fourth goal of the competition, he moved ahead of Giroud, Lionel Messi, Cody Gakpo, Alvaro Morata, Marcus Rashford, and Enner Valencia—who is now out of the running for the Golden Boot because Ecuador was eliminated—in the standings.
His three goals in France's victory in Russia four and a half years ago made it his eighth World Cup goal, breaking Pele's previous record.
Before turning 24, the legendary Brazilian had scored seven goals in a World Cup, but Mbappe broke the mark just 16 days before his 24th birthday.
The most expensive teenager of all time and former star of Monaco, however, wasn't done there; he even added the third goal for his team.
Marcus Thuram passed the ball to the 23-year-old inside the box, and after the forward outran his defender, he curled the ball past the goalkeeper.
Prior to Sunday, the Frenchman had already scored once against Australia and twice against Denmark in the tournament, bringing his total for the country's squad to 33 goals in just 63 games.
Given that the AC Milan forward has scored 52 goals for his nation, Giroud's record is unlikely to last for very long.
He could still increase that total, but he won't have as much time as Mbappe will to catch and overtake him.
Just how many goals will Mbappe score in his career !