With the team advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2022 Qatar World Cup being overshadowed, the last-minute competition for the top scorer is intensifying.
The most advanced player in the competition for the top scorer is Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), a striker of the French national soccer team. Up to the quarterfinals, he is ranked first in the scoring category with a total of 5 goals.
Mbappe has been consistently scoring goals since the group stage.
Mbappe, who tasted the first goal of the tournament once morest Australia, scored two goals once morest Denmark. He also boasted a high goal sense with multiple goals in the round of 16 once morest Poland.
Mbappe, who scored four goals in the Russian tournament four years ago, which led France to the World Cup victory, raised the possibility of becoming the top scorer by breaking his record for the most goals in the World Cup.
However, in the quarterfinals once morest England, he was blocked by the opponent’s intensive check and failed to score a goal even following playing full-time.
In the meantime, competitors went following Mbappe.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) and France’s Olivier Giroud (AC Milan) each added one goal each in the quarterfinals, chasing Mbappe to the bottom with a total of four goals.
Giroud scored the winning goal with a header in the 33rd minute of the second half when the score was 1-1 once morest England.
It was the 4th goal in this tournament and 53 goals in A-match, continuing to lead the French national team with the most goals.
Messi also scored the fourth goal of the tournament with a penalty kick in the 28th minute of the second half in the quarterfinal match once morest the Netherlands. Messi has scored a goal in every game in this tournament, except for the match once morest Poland, where he missed a penalty kick.
The competition between Mbappe, Messi and Giroud for the top scorer is likely to continue until the end of the tournament.
This is because even if they lose in the quarterfinals, they can play the third place match.
The Qatar World Cup semi-finals will begin with Argentina and Croatia on the 14th, followed by France and Morocco on the 15th.
All three players will challenge the ‘Golden Boot’, the first World Cup scorer in their lives.
Mbappe’s best performance was a tie for second place in the 2018 Russian tournament.
Messi tied for third in the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Giroud had scored only one goal in the previous two World Cups.
[서울=뉴시스]