• France travels to Greece on Tuesday for the last match of the qualifiers for Euro 2024.
  • At only 24 years old, Kylian Mbappé has already scored 300 goals since the start of his career
  • Could he surpass the machines of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are already at over 800 career goals?

He may struggle with each cap, even with three and a half seconds of playing time, but Olivier Giroud knows it deep down. Despite returns or ball shots out of nowhere, Kylian Mbappé will come one day, and it will probably not be counted in years, to chase him from his title of top scorer of the team of France. Ten goals behind the former Gunner, the Parisian striker could even go ahead at the next Euros.

46 goals for the national team, ahead of the match against Greece, this Tuesday, for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, 27 with Monaco and 227 with PSG. You don't need to have participated in "Numbers and Letters" for the count to be good. Yes, that's 300 goals since the beginning of his career for the Kyks. All this at just 24 years and 333 days. Better than Neymar (277), Messi (274) or Cristiano Ronaldo (158) at the same age, reports L'Equipe.

"300 is ridiculous"

So, you see us coming, obviously. If Bondy's kid does better in turnaround times than the other machines, how far can he go? "I've always wanted to make history in my sport," said the captain of Les Bleus after his hat-trick against Gibraltar. Some players scored 800, others 850. Three hundred, next to it, it's ridiculous! It's a step for me, and I want to continue to be decisive for my national team and my club. »

If he continues to ride the current momentum, with around fifty goals per season, Kylian Mbappé could be close to 800 goals in a decade, at the age of 35. Close, therefore, to the current number of goals scored by Leo Messi (821) and Cristiano Ronaldo (860). "He can reach and even surpass the figures achieved by Messi or Ronaldo, that's for sure," said France international Steve Savidan. He's like them in their heyday, he's in a team that dominates its league, and that will last for many years. And, in the France team, he is accompanied by a great generation. »

"A thousand goals is a lifetime"

Messi and CR7 are good. But can Mbappé surpass Pele and, according to the legend built by himself, 1,283 goals? "A thousand goals is a lifetime," laughs Elie Baup, the former coach of Bordeaux and Marseille. For Mbappé, around 700 goals, it would already become an achievement. And beating Cristiano Ronaldo would be exceptional. "1,000 goals is going to be difficult, but achievable," Savidan said. So, how?

  • By improving on certain points, according to the former Valenciennes player: "He has a lot of room for improvement on free-kicks. He can also improve in his heading. To do that, he also needs to be in the box, but that's not his strong point, nor his role, because he's the one who crosses. And whether he stays at PSG or goes to another club, he will have to continue to take penalties. »
  • By changing his game a little as he gets older, according to the former Toulouse coach: "With time, as Luis Enrique says a little, he will have to participate a little more, have more travel compared to the team, be more in the collective movement, which allows him to save individual efforts. And it would allow him to stay within his standards of goals, thanks to the use of his partners. »

"Players won't have the same longevity"

Above all, it will have to preserve itself. Apart from a one-month sideline due to grumpiness this season, and a hamstring injury that kept him away from the pitch for thirty days in 2019-2020, Kylian Mbappé has, for the moment, escaped the grim reaper. "Seasons with 50 goals are exceptional, because you have to be vigilant, lucid every three days, and have an optimal recovery," says Elie Baup. And, even if he doesn't want to be the bird of ill omen, the Saint-Gaudinois doubts that Donatello will be able to last long, and consequently score at all costs.

Today, young players are starting earlier and earlier, and may not have the longevity of Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi. The number of matches is more substantial in the national team, the new format of the Champions League will also offer more matches. Players won't have the same longevity, as there will be premature wear and tear. Ten seasons with games every three days is not possible. There are too many matches, too many quest for spectacle, which will wear down the body, even psychologically. »

So, before the Kyks takes the walker and comes to tell us, during the long winter evenings, this lob of 40 meters registered against Gibraltar, if you know when we broke the record of the biggest victory of the team of France, we only have to enjoy the genius of Bondy, It doesn't matter if it's for five, ten or fifteen years. "I often say it, let's be happy that he's French," said Thierry Henry. It's extraordinary, let's keep watching it. At least it will provide proof of all the goals he has scored. Not like Pele.


  • Euro 2024
  • Kylian Mbappé
  • Greece
  • France national football team
  • Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG)
  • Sport
  • Football