Mbappe Exceeds Henry's Goal Record For The French National Team

Kylian Mbappe has passed Thierry Henry's goal record for the French national team (Instagram/@equipedefrance).

JAKARTA - Kylian Mbappe scored one goal and one assist during the French National Team (Timnas) who played with 10 players avoiding surprises by rising and winning 2-1 over Iceland in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the European Zone.

The goal made Mbappe's total international goals 52, one goal ahead of Thierry Henry and five less than Olivier Giroud's record.

Andri Gudjohnsen - the son of former Chelsea and Barcelona striker, Eidur Gudjohnsen - brought the visitors a surprise lead in the 21st minute at the Parc des Princes, Paris.

However, Real Madrid star Mbappe equalized from the penalty spot towards the end of the first half before giving Bradley Barcola a pass for the winning goal in the 62nd minute.

Gudjohnsen thought he had equalized in the 88th minute, but was disallowed after being reviewed for a foul on Ibrahima Konate.

France lacks one player for the last 22 minutes of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Group D match because Aurelien Tchouameni was sent off by the referee after making a hard tackle on Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson.

Head coach Les Bleus, Didier Deschamps, replaced Lucas Digne and Desire Doue who were injured by including Theo Hernandez and Marcus Thuram after his team started the campaign with a 2-0 away win on Friday, September 5, 2025, over Ukraine.

Iceland's goalkeeper, Elias Rafn Olafsson, made a brilliant save to thwart Thuram's starting shot from welcoming Michael Olise's through ball before the visitors shocked the hosts.

Under the pressure of Isak Bergmann Johannesson, Olise lost the ball in his own penalty box, which allowed Gudjohnsen to finish with his volley from about 9 meters away.

Olafsson then parried Thuram's header and Manu Kone's strike with a superb double save to further frustration the host, who appeared dominant.

Iceland, which started their campaign by beating Azerbaijan 5-0, prepared to take advantage of their unexpected advantage until the break. However, VAR intervened when Thuram was dropped in the penalty box by Mikael Anderson and Mbappe managed to execute a penalty.

Olise almost made up for the previous mistake in a spectacular way when his long-range curling shot hit the crossbar.

Mbappe finally became the winner. He ran quickly to welcome Tchouameni's pass that split the defense and gave a key pass to Barcola who finished it easily.

Iceland had another hope of creating a surprise six minutes later when Tchouameni was sent off after getting two yellow cards.

France had experienced several tense moments in the final minutes, but in the end they managed to seal three points after Portuguese referee Antonio Nobre annulled Gudjohnsen after seeing the monitor on the side of the field.