France’s Kylian Mbappe runs with the ball during the semifinal match between France and Belgium at the 2018 football World Cup in St. Petersburg
Sixty years after Pele, Kylian Mbappe became only the second teenager to score a goal in a World Cup final — and Associated Press photographers were on hand to document that moment and hundreds of others across the sporting landscape.
Mbappe helped his France team win the final, but he also showed his speed and skill throughout the tournament in Russia.
Pictures from the World Cup feature prominently in the list of AP sports photos from around Europe and Africa in 2018, but others also made their mark. There is Formula One, tennis, cricket and rugby, as well as a picture of American gymnast Simone Biles awaiting yet another world championship gold medal.
Czech Republic’s Krystof Kryzl crashes during the first run of an alpine ski, men’s World Cup giant slalom, in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany
Alexia Paganini of Switzerland competes in the Ladies Short Program during the ISU figure skating France’s Trophy, in Grenoble, French Alps
Rafael Nadal jumps in a corridor before his men’s final match of the French Open tennis tournament against Austria’s Dominic Thiem
Wrestlers Nelson Fernandes, Alex Legrand, Ace Angel, and Zach, bottom, headlock wrestlers Lord Steven Crowley, Darkmundo, Maeven, and PV Red, fight during a wrestling charity gala in Ivry-sur-Seine
Mclaren driver Fernando Alonso of Spain goes over the top of Sauber driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco at the start of the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix
England’s Anthony Watson (left) and Ireland’s Rob Kearney try to catch the ball during the Six Nations rugby union match between England and Ireland at Twickenham stadium in London
England’s Jonny Bairstow and England’s James Anderson run off the pitch as sudden heavy rain starts during the second day of the second test match between England and India at Lord’s cricket ground in London
An unidentified athlete makes his trial jump at the ski jump in Bischofshofen, Austria
Tiger Woods of the US chips on to the 6th green during a fourball match on the opening day of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-YvelinesYIR
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