The 27 year-old netted a double as Les Bleus crushed Sweden 3-0 in the round of 32 to move one shy of Messi's record 19 goals at World Cups and join him on top of the scoring charts in this edition with six.

"I think the goal, as I said, is to go as far as possible - to make it to (the final on) July 19th and come back here," Mbappe, who scored his 18 goals in 18 games, said.

"We’re trying to win; we’re taking it one step at a time. Of course, the more goals you score, the higher you climb in the rankings - I’m not telling anyone anything new there.

"But I’m also convinced that Leo is going to score more goals, so I don’t focus too much on that. I’m more focused on the opponents we might face and how close we’re getting to our goal: the final."

Messi's Argentina faces minnow Cape Verde in the last 32 on Saturday. France next takes on Paraguay for a place in the quarter-finals, where it would play either co-hosts Canada or Morocco.

Paraguay took an ultra defensive approach against Germany to knock the four-times world champion out on penalties in the last 32 and there is little chance that it will go out swashbuckling against France.

Les Bleus will not take anything for granted and will do their homework, Mbappe warned.

"I think we’ll keep working between now and the Paraguay match to see what we can improve, because there are still some sequences that aren't quite clear enough, there’s room for improvement," he said.

"Still, I think it’s positive overall, and our ability to score goals means we always have the chance to take the lead in matches."