Kylian Mbappe’s 2022 World Cup Final Hat-Trick Backs Pele Talk
Kylian Mbappe’s 2022 world cup final hat-trick pushed him into rare company and kept the Pele comparison alive. The France captain and forward scored three times in the final, then added to a World Cup résumé that already included 12 goals in 14 games.
That final made him the second man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final after Geoff Hurst in 1966. It also made him only the fifth player to score in two World Cup finals, a line that sits beside his 2022 Golden Boot.
Mbappe And Pele
Mbappe moved ahead of Pele for the most World Cup goals scored before the age of 24, and that is the standard now following him into every scoring discussion. He has been described as the 21st century Pele because of his World Cup scoring and pace, and the numbers back the label better than any nickname can.
By the end of the 2022 tournament, Mbappe had eight goals. He had already scored four at the 2018 World Cup, and the two tournaments together gave him a direct path into the all-time conversation while he was still well short of the overall record.
World Cup Scoring Ladder
Lionel Messi sits one ahead on 13 World Cup goals. Just Fontaine had 13, Gerd Muller 14, the Brazilian Ronaldo 15, and Miroslav Klose 16. Mbappe’s 12 goals in 14 World Cup games leave him chasing that group one step at a time.
The gap to Giroud on France’s all-time scoring chart adds a second chase inside the same career arc. Mbappe is one behind Olivier Giroud there, so his scoring load is not limited to the World Cup stage.
Real Madrid Form
His move to Real Madrid in 2024 only widened the spotlight. Mbappe scored 44 goals in his debut season, with 42 of them coming in 43 games, and that output followed a player already carrying the weight of a World Cup final hat-trick and a Golden Boot.
For readers tracking the record chase, the useful number is simple: 12 World Cup goals and counting. For everyone else, the 2022 final remains the clearest proof that Mbappe is not just part of the Pele comparison — he is producing the kind of tournament scoring that keeps it in play.
