Commenting on the result of the first half of the third-place match against England on Saturday in Miami, French national team captain and striker Kylian Mbappé, the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, said: 'I can understand some who think it looked like a farce.'

Mbappé added in a statement to M6 channel regarding France trailing 4-0 at halftime in a match that ended 6-4 in favor of England: 'I can understand some who think (the first half) was a farce, and that we did not respect the shirt. As for me, I say we were human, but unfortunately we cannot allow ourselves to be human.'

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Mbappé believed that the French team was 'completely shocked' by England's performance during the first 45 minutes, saying: 'I think they woke us up well. After that, in the second half, we returned to being high-level players.' Mbappé expressed particular regret that France's revival came too late and to no avail, in the last match for coach Didier Deschamps after 14 years at the helm. He said: 'It is more painful for the coach. We wanted to do something for him, but unfortunately the first half gave the impression that we let him down, and that is never what we wanted to convey.'

By scoring his 21st and 22nd goals against the 'Three Lions', the Real Madrid striker became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, two goals ahead of Argentina's Lionel Messi, ahead of the Argentina-Spain final on Sunday.

He said: 'Leo scores all the time, and tomorrow he will definitely score. As for me, I just try to help my team score every time,' before stressing that he 'would rather not be the all-time top scorer and play tomorrow's match' against 'La Albiceleste'.

Regarding this record, he added: 'I think it's a good thing in terms of legacy... but today, it's not the first thing on my mind.'