Kylian Mbappé reaches century of France caps

Kylian Mbappé (27) has reached a century of France caps in starting tonight’s 2026 World Cup group stage game against Iraq at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Field. The France captain already made history in America in overtaking Olivier Giroud as Les Bleus’ all-time record goalscorer with his 57th and 58th strikes against Senegal last week. Mbappé will lead the line against Iraq to help France qualify for the knock-out stage of the tournament.

Mbappé never featured for France’s U21 team – Les Espoirs – and was thrown in at the deep end for the first time by Didier Deschamps in 2017, when he was still 18, back in March 2017. Mbappé went on to win the 2018 World Cup and the 2021 Nations League, scoring in both finals.

Mbappé is the tenth player in history to reach a century of caps for France, following in the footsteps of current France boss Didier Deschamps (103 caps), Patrick Vieira (107), soon-to-be appointed future France manager Zinédine Zidane (108), Marcel Desailly (116), Thierry Henry (123), Antoine Griezmann (137), Olivier Giroud (137), Lilian Thuram (142) and Hugo Lloris (145). Given his age and his availability, Mbappé could very well become France’s most capped player, most certainly if he plans to play until he’s 80 just to “prove his critics wrong.”

GFFN | Bastien Cheval