As Kylian Mbappe turns 24, here's another World Cup record he equalled of the great Pele

France's Kylian Mbappe may have fallen short of potentially winning his second consecutive FIFA World Cup title following the 4-2 defeat against Argentina (3-3 after extra time) on Sunday, but the class he showcased over the course of the tournament was nothing short of outstanding.

The Frenchman scored eight goals in the seven games he played at the tournament to take his FIFA World Cup goals tally to 12 (four in 2018), and in the process also equalled the number of goals three-time World Cup winner Pelé scored over the course of his glittering career.

Kylian Mbappe almost singlehandedly helped France win World Cup

France produced a below-par performance in the FIFA World Cup 2022 final as most of the players seemed completely out of sorts for most of the match. The very fact that Les Bleus came from two goals down in normal time to take the game to extra time was surprising as they failed to register a shot at the Argentine goal for the first hour of the game. The performance of the team was so poor that France coach Didier Deschamps was forced into making two changes before half-time.

Just as it seemed that France had no way to make their way back into the match after conceding a goal each to Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria, they produced an outstanding comeback. And Kylian Mbappe was at the centre of the attack. The 24-year-old got one goal back for France from the penalty spot in the 80th minute before scoring a stunning goal just a minute after.

Mbappe's equalizer was the spark that the French team needed as they just seemed to come to life all of a sudden. While they could not score another to win the match in normal time, they did create most of the chances in the last 10 minutes. Once the clash went into extra time, Argentina pressed the reset button, with Messi once again putting them ahead in the 108th minute of the clash.

Just when it seemed that Argentina had perhaps done enough to secure the win and the trophy that eluded them for 36 years, France equalized from the penalty spot in the 118th minute. And it was none other than Mbappe who did so. The match then went to a shootout when Mbappe once again converted his penalty to produce one of the best performances in a final.

However, that was not enough as Argentina converted all four of their opening penalties in comparison to two from France. While Mbappe failed to become only the second player in history to win his first two FIFA World Cups (Pelé did so in 1958 and 1962), one cannot deny that the short career that he has had so far has been nothing short of brilliant.