Mbappe brace puts France into round of 16
Kylian Mbappe scored two goals and put defending champions France into the knockout stage of the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Denmark yesterday.
Mbappe gave his team the lead in the 61st minute and then scored the winner in the 86th with his right thigh as Les Bleus became the first team to advance to the round of 16.
The France forward swapped passes with Theo Hernandez down the left flank and poked the ball past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for the first goal. He then jumped acrobatically to guide in the second after a cross from Antoine Griezmann.
Denmark defender Andreas Christensen equalised for his team with a header in the 68th.
Mbappe scored four goals when France won the World Cup four years ago, including one in the final. He now has 31 goals for France, moving him one ahead of Just Fontaine – the all-time leading scorer at a single World Cup with 13 goals at the 1958 tournament.
France beat Australia 4-1 in their opening game, while the Danes drew 0-0 with Tunisia. Australia beat Tunisia 1-0 earlier yesterday.
With Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema missing from the tournament with a leg injury, Mbappe has taken charge. He has 14 goals in his past 12 games for France, including three so far in Qatar.
The Danes beat France twice this year in the Nations League, but looked tame in attack at Stadium 974 – on the rare occasions they even got near France’s penalty area.