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Kylian Mbappe becomes youngest since Pele to score in World Cup final

With a second-half goal in the 4-2 win over Croatia on Sunday, France's Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player to score in the World Cup final since Pele did so in 1958.

Mbappe, 19, scored his fourth goal of the World Cup in the 65th minute, collecting a pass from Lucas Hernandez and shooting right-footed from 25 yards around Croatia defender Domagoj Vida and past goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

Pele, who remains the youngest player to appear in a World Cup final, was 17 when he scored two goals in the 5-2 victory over hosts Sweden.

The Brazil legend tweeted his congratulations to Mbappe after the PSG star became just the second teenager to score in a final.

Following the match, Mbappe said: "Pele made football history, I am just trying to follow my own path. I am just starting out. I try to play as I have always done. I am breaking records. Scoring is always special. I have always been working toward moments like this one. This is not the end. I must continue, we must continue, because I have the ambition to go further.

"Wherever my potential allows me to go. Winning a World Cup this early opens up many doors. What made me think two months ago that we could win it? You must always believe. Quality is not always enough, but it is a good base. In a competition like this one, it is not only the most beautiful that win, but those who believe the most. We believed -- iron belief.

"At the start, it might have seemed ambitious, but we believed. We had to show that we could do it. I am very happy. However, we all have different cases. For example, Adil [Rami] has worked his entire career to reach this point. Me? I am just getting started. I have the rest of my story still to write.

"The Ballon d'Or? Of course the World Cup plays in my favour, but I am not thinking too much about that [the Ballon d'Or]."

And Mbappe was pretty emphatic on Twitter too.

Earlier in the tournament, Mbappe scored twice in the 4-3 victory over Argentina in the round of 16 and the only goal in the 1-0 group-stage victory over Peru.

The Paris Saint-Germain star was rewarded with the award as the tournament's Best Young Player after Sunday's game.

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