Historic night for Mbappe as France put eight past Kazakhstan

France booked their place in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup after a 8-0 hammering of Kazakhstan in which Paris Saint Germain star Kylian Mbappe scored four times in his home stadium, the Parc des Princes.

FIFA World Cup champions France were out to seal their place in the showpiece with a game to spare in Group D by defeating Kazakhstan, and their cause was helped when Mbappe opened the scoring after only six minutes.

The 22-year-old connected with a cutback from Theo Hernandez to produce a near-post finish that should have been dealt with by Kazakhstan goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov.

Pokatilov’s night went from bad to worse as he misjudged a long ball outside his penalty area, allowing France forward Kingsley Coman to steal the ball ahead of him and square it for Mbappe to fire into an unguarded net for his second in the 12th minute.

Two soon became three as Kylian Mbappe completed a first-half hat trick, his first for France, in the 32nd minute. The youngster headed home a pinpoint cross from Bayern Munich winger Coman to put France in a position of strength.

Kazakhstan held France off until ten minutes into the second half when Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema continued his fantastic run of form with two goals in quick succession in the 55th and 59th minutes.

Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot scored a sixth for France in the 75th minute before Antoine Griezmann added a seventh from the penalty spot. Mbappe was not done yet, as he fired in an eighth with only three minutes of normal time left in the match to seal their joint-biggest ever win in World Cup Qualifying.

Kylian Mbappe’s four-goal haul made him the first man since Just Fontaine against West Germany in 1958 to score four goals in a game for France.

Champions France have now joined Denmark, Germany and Belgium as the European teams to have booked their place in the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar next November with a game to spare.