'Who's the best in the world?' Mbappé answers without hesitation

Kylian Mbappé, France's striker at the 2026 North America World Cup, has named Argentina's Lionel Messi as the best player in the world.

According to Fox Sports on Monday, Mbappé said of the world's best player: "Lionel Messi, for sure. He and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal are the best players in the world. That's a clear fact."

"I think he has been proving for 15 years that he has an incredible level," Mbappé added.

Mbappé himself is widely regarded as one of the world's best players, though he spoke modestly about his own standing. "For me, I just try to do my best with what I can do — show my level on the biggest stage and help the team win another World Cup," he said.

He went on to say that "the rest is for the public, the journalists and the football fans to debate," adding, "I think it's good to debate about players to find out who is the best."

Mbappé is locked in a race with Messi for the Golden Boot at this tournament, and the two are also rewriting the record books for all-time World Cup goals.

Messi scored a hat trick against Algeria in Argentina's Group J opener on June 16, equaling Miroslav Klose of Germany's all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals. He then added two more against Austria in the second group-stage match that day, moving to 18 career World Cup goals to claim sole possession of the record. He has scored five goals in this tournament alone.

Mbappé scored twice against Senegal in France's Group I opener on June 16 and added two more against Iraq in the second group match, giving him four goals in the tournament — level with Messi.

Those goals brought his career World Cup tally to 16, putting him in a tie for second place with Klose.

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