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The World Cup, currently in the midst of the Round of 32, is heating up with the stellar performances of its stars. French superstar striker Kylian Mbappe netted two goals against Sweden, tying Lionel Messi for the lead in the Golden Boot race and guiding his team to the Round of 16.

Reporter Yu Byeongmin has the story.

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Mbappe shook up the Swedish defense with lively movement from the start, but he could not easily find the back of the net.

In the 20th minute of the first half, he found the net after receiving a through ball, but it was ruled offside. In the 32nd minute, he had to settle for disappointment as his sharp right-footed shot hit the goalpost.

He finally struck in the 45th minute of the first half.

After dribbling past defenders with dazzling individual skill inside the penalty box, he fired a powerful right-footed shot into the goal.

The Swedish goalkeeper could not even react to the quick-release shot, and the defenders could only watch.

Mbappe's goal hunt did not stop there.

Leading 2-0, he penetrated the space behind the defense with perfect timing in the 29th minute of the second half and found the net once again with an accurate shot.

A VAR review showed his movement was so instinctive that he stayed onside by a hair's breadth.

With his 6th goal of the tournament, Mbappe tied Argentina's Lionel Messi, who has yet to play his Round of 32 match, for the top scorer spot. He also narrowed the gap with Messi in total World Cup goals to just one, bringing his tally to 18.

Furthermore, he set a new record for the most goals in World Cup knockout stages with 10, surpassing Brazilian legend Ronaldo.

[Kylian Mbappe/France National Football Team Forward: Messi will surely score more goals in the future, so I am not too concerned about the (top scorer) title race. I will return here on July 19 (when the final is held) to lift the championship trophy.]

France, which comfortably advanced to the Round of 16 after a 3-0 victory over Sweden, will aim for a spot in the quarterfinals against Paraguay this Sunday.

(Video Editing: Choi Hye-ran)