France have produced some of the most celebrated attackers in football history, from Just Fontaine and Michel Platini through to Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud.
But Kylian Mbappe has now surpassed them all in goalscoring terms, becoming his country’s all-time record scorer during France’s World Cup opener against Senegal.
The Real Madrid forward netted his 58th international goal to move past Giroud in the record books, achieving the milestone at just 27 years of age.
Giroud, working as a pundit on BBC One for the Senegal match, offered warm words for the man who eclipsed him, saying: “Congratulations Kylian. I’m happy for him.”
“It makes sense, it was expected. He will beat every single record – the number of caps and goals. I think he can easily reach 100 goals and maybe [beat] Miroslav Klose’s World Cup record. He’s delivered great performances in World Cups and big games.”
Mbappe’s 58 goals arrived in just 99 appearances for France, and Tuesday’s strike also took him to 14 World Cup goals, just two behind Klose’s all-time record of 16.
Giroud was equally effusive about Mbappe’s character, saying: “He knows where he wants to go, he is a leader and you could see from a young age he was very at ease. He was mature for his age. He is a good team-mate, he is an incredible talent and I think he is a proper leader on and off the pitch.”
French football expert Julien Laurens believes Mbappe is on course to become the greatest player in his nation’s history, predicting he will eventually surpass even Zinedine Zidane and Platini.
“It is not just for his goals, but his leadership now as captain on the field, winning the World Cup in 2018, scoring a hat-trick in the final in 2022,” said Laurens.
“I predict him to be the number one by the end of his career. He has at least one more World Cup after this and the Euros to play in so he will probably become the greatest player we have ever had.”
Mbappe’s journey to this moment began long before his professional debut, shaped by a childhood in Bondy on the outskirts of Paris, where his father Wilfried coached at the local AS Bondy club.
Childhood friend Rayan Viyanga, speaking in a BBC Sport documentary, painted a vivid picture of Mbappe’s singular focus growing up: “Kylian was just school and football. School, football, home.”
Laurens noted that Mbappe’s ambition was evident from an extraordinarily young age, recalling that “as a kid, he learned La Marseillaise at the age of three just to be ready to sing it when that first cap would come.”
His adopted brother Jires Kembo Ekoko, who went on to play for Rennes in Ligue 1, was an important early influence, having attended the prestigious Clairefontaine academy before Mbappe followed in his footsteps.
French football author Matt Spiro told BBC Sport that Mbappe’s time at Clairefontaine was not immediately straightforward, noting: “Kylian initially found it a bit difficult at Clairefontaine. He was there for two years and during the first year, he certainly wasn’t the best in his group.”
At 16 years and 347 days, Mbappe became Monaco’s youngest-ever player, breaking a record previously held by Henry, before going on to become the club’s youngest scorer as well.
He would eventually join Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that made him the most expensive teenager in football history, before his long-awaited move to Real Madrid finally materialised seven years after they first came calling.
Former PSG performance director Martin Buccheit offered an honest insight into the player’s evolution, telling BBC Sport: “Kylian didn’t always have the hand on the dial. But for sure the family, the mum and the parents were really behind him.”
Made France captain by Didier Deschamps in 2023, Mbappe still hungers for a Champions League winners medal and the Ballon d’Or, suggesting there is plenty still to come from the record-breaking forward.
Laurens concluded: “Not only for his goals and assists, but I would be very surprised if he ends his career without winning the Ballon d’Or and at least one Champions League.”
