Kylian Mbappe scored the 400th goal of his career as France earned a 4-0 win over Ukraine to book their place at next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Mbappe opened the scoring with a panenka penalty in the 55th minute, after Michael Olise had been brought down in the box.
France had been awarded a penalty by referee Slavko Vincic, who had been advised to check the monitor by VAR after Ukraine had appeal for a spot-kick at the other end prior to the host’s attack.
The referee opted to stick with his original decision, with Mbappe converting to break the deadlock.
Olise doubled France’s advantage in the 76th minute, before Mbappe netted his second of the night from close range.
Mbappe’s brace saw the France and Real Madrid forward reach the 400 goal milestone, a feat achieved aged 26 years and 328 days.
Kylian Mbappe reached 400 career goals as France beat Ukraine to earn a World Cup spot
Mbappe opened the scoring with a paneka penalty in the early stages of the second half
Liverpool star Hugo Ekitike scored his first France goal with a fine effort in the 88th minute
His total has included 55 goals for the national team, with Mbappe now two shy of Oliver Giroud’s all-time goalscoring record for France.
The forward opted against attempting to complete his hat-trick in the closing stages, after being fed the ball in the box by Hugo Ekitike.
Mbappe instead squared the ball back to Ekitike, who had begun the move with a driving run, with the Liverpool forward superbly firing into the net to score his first goal for France.
The 4-0 win ensured France have qualified for the World Cup with a match to spare, leaving Iceland and Ukraine battling it out to earn the group’s play-off spot.
France, the 1998 and 2018 winners, will be among the favourites heading into next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico as they bid to reach a third consecutive World Cup final.
Mbappe was asked about his own personal milestone post-match, with the France captain opting to look ahead for further goals.
‘My 400 career goals? That doesn’t impress people,’ Mbappe told French broadcaster TF1 post-match.
‘I need 400 more, there’s still a long way to go.
‘It’s just symbolic, but I’m going to try for the impossible.’
The result saw the two-time World Cup winners qualify for the tournament with a game to spare
A minute’s silence had been held before kick-off between France and Ukraine at the Parc des Princes
The teams paid tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks on the 10th anniversary
The match at the Parc des Princes had begun in emotional fashion, with the qualifier falling on the tenth anniversary of the Paris attacks.
A series of attacks around Paris and around Stade de France during a friendly match between France and Germany left a total of 132 people dead back in 2015.
Most of those who were killed lost their lives at the Bataclan concert hall.
A minute’s silence was held ahead of the match between France and Ukraine in tribute to the victims of the attacks.
