Kylian Mbappe scored the 17th and 18th World Cup goals of his career in France's 3-0 win over Sweden to move to within one of Lionel Messi's all-time record.
Mbappe opened his account after the impressive Michael Olise combined with Ousmane Dembele at a short corner to feed Mbappe, who fired home on the stroke of half-time from the edge of the box.
Bradley Barcola doubled the advantage eight minutes after the break, finishing past Widell Zetterstrom on the break after running onto Olise's slick through ball that passed through a Swedish defender's leg.
Real Madrid striker Mbappe then sealed victory in the 74th minute, running onto yet another slicing ball from Olise through the left side of the penalty area before scoring a strike similar to his first.
The 27-year-old star for the two-time World Cup winners is visibly embracing this tournament.
After scoring his first goal, he raced to the sideline and hugged manager Didier Deschamps, who had recently returned to the team after missing the group finale due to the death of his mother.
And when he was summoned off the pitch in the 85th minute to a standing ovation, he raised both arms and spun around to the whole stadium in a wave of appreciation.
"I did say that I wanted to enjoy this World Cup to the fullest," Mbappe said.
"I'm not saying that the other World Cup[s] I did not enjoy, but I was younger. I was focused then in delivering the best performances.
"And today, I believe I can do both: delivering great performances and obviously enjoying [it]."
Best photos of the 2026 World Cup - in pictures
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Kylian Mbappe of France celebrates with Didier Deschamps after scoring the 1-0 goal during the match France against Sweden, in New Jersey. EPA -
Mexico's Raul Jimenez scores their second goal against Ecuador in Mexico City. Reuters -
Mexico players celebrate after forward Raul Jimenez scores his team’s second goal against Ecuador in Mexico City. AFP -
Norway's forward Haaland kicks the ball next to Ivory Coast's midfielder Ibrahim Sangare in Arlington. AFP -
Paraguay's players celebrate after winning the penalty shootout against Germany in Foxborough. AFP -
Dutch defender Jan Paul Van Hecke, left, squares up to Morocco midfielder Ismael Saibari during their World Cup clash in Mexico. AFP -
Brazil fans cheer on the South American side from Rachid Karami International Fair in Tripoli, Lebanon. Getty Images -
Nicolas Seiwald of Austria, left, in action against Fares Chaibi of Algeria in Kansas City. EPA -
Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau catches the ball above defender Derek Cornelius, wearing black, and South Africa's Mbekezeli Mbokazi at the Los Angeles Stadium. Canada won the last-32 clash 1-0, with a 92nd-minute strike. AFP -
England's Harry Kane, right, celebrates scoring the second goal of the team's 2-0 victory over Panama. PA -
Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring against Jordan to become the first person to score in seven consecutive World Cup games. AFP -
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo makes his way past Colombia's Santiago Arias, left, and Jhon Arias. The teams drew nil-all. AFP -
Algeria's Rafik Belghali celebrates scoring against Austria during their 3-3 draw. AFP -
Egypt's Mohamed Salah in action against Iran's Mehdi Taremi, in another match that ended in a draw. Reuters -
Senegal's Pape Gueye, left, and Iraq's Ibrahim Bayesh viefor the ball. Senegal won 5-0. AFP -
Spain's Pau Cubarsi (No 22) and Uruguay's Agustin Canobbio fight for the ball. Spain won 1-0. AFP -
Turkey midfielder Arda Guler scores a goal past the US's Matt Turner. Turkey won 3-2. EPA -
Australia's Nestory Irankunda (No 17) and Paraguay's Omar Alderete during the teams' 0-0 draw. EPA -
The Netherlands' Jan Paul Van Hecke, left, and Nathan Ake in action against Tunisia's Anis Slimane. The Oranje won 3-1. AFP -
Ecuador's Nilson Angulo celebrates scoring during the team's 2-0 victory over Germany. AFP
Mbappe moved within one goal of Messi on the all-time tournament list and, with his fifth and sixth goals of this year's tournament, pulled even with the 39-year-old in the Golden Boot chase.
Assuming France makes another deep run at the 2026 finals, Mbappe is on pace to shatter his total of eight in a single World Cup from 2022, when he helped Les Bleus to a runner-up finish against Messi's Argentina and scored the second hat-trick in a World Cup final.
He also scored four times during France's run to the 2018 World Cup title.
"Well, I'm happy, but it's not the most important [thing] today," Mbappe said of his brace against Sweden. "We continued delivering great performances."
Messi and Argentina face Cape Verde on Friday in Miami Gardens, Florida, in their Round-of-32 meeting.
Deschamps' side will next play on Saturday in Philadelphia against Paraguay, which shocked four-time champions Germany on penalties following a 1-1 draw on Monday.
"This game was important. It is a new competition starting [in the knockout phase], as we said earlier on," Mbappe said. "Now we have to focus on Paraguay. We have another game to win."
Sweden were eliminated following one of the more turbulent World Cup stays in recent memory, defeating Tunisia 5-1 and then losing to the Netherlands by the same score before drawing their group finale 1-1 against Japan to reach the knockout phase.
It was their first time advancing from a group in a major tournament since the 2020 European Championships. Sweden failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Euros.
"I thought, in terms of the game, we had to be perfect," said Sweden manager Graham Potter. "And even if we were, I'm not sure that would've been enough, if I'm being brutally honest. Because the opponent was of a high level."
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