26 Superstars: Kylian Mbappe
With highlights, quotes, stats, trivia, World Cup history and 2026 hopes, FIFA spotlights France superstar Kylian Mbappe.
At the age of 27, Kylian Mbappe is already on a path towards being regarded as one of the game’s greatest-ever players, and his achievements at club level with Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as with France – 55 goals in 94 caps – would already fill entire books. After winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia, he almost fired Les Bleus to back-to-back titles at Qatar 2022, only for the French to be beaten 4-2 on penalties by Argentina after a thrilling 3-3 draw in the final.
Can this boy from Bondy on the outskirts of Paris now make history by reaching his third consecutive World Cup final? We’ll know in July at the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
At club level, Mbappe has already lifted no fewer than 18 trophies: two with Monaco, where he made his professional debut in December 2015; 14 with Paris Saint-Germain, including six French league titles; and two with Real Madrid, whom he joined in June 2024.
On the international stage, Mbappe won the World Cup at Russia 2018 before leaving Qatar four years later with a silver medal around his neck. He also won the European Under-19 Championship in 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2021.
Although he is blessed with blistering pace, Mbappe is above all an outstanding finisher. He remains PSG’s all-time top scorer with 256 goals, and claimed the top scorer accolade in Ligue 1 a record six times in a row between 2018 and 2024.
Nobody has bagged more goals in World Cup finals than Mbappe, who scored against Croatia in 2018 and three times against Argentina in 2022.
"Mbappe can become my heir, and I’m not kidding. I can see a lot of myself in his ability to play with speed. He’s an attacker who thinks quickly. When the ball arrives, he already knows what to do, he already has in his mind where to go.” Pele
"He’s going to make history and surpass everyone." Zinedine Zidane
"Right now, Real Madrid have the best player in the world – Kylian Mbappe." Predrag Mijatovic
"Kylian is a different player, a beast who is very strong in one-on-ones, who goes into space, who is very fast, who scores a lot of goals. He is a complete player and he has proved it for years, and in the years to come, he will certainly be among the best." Lionel Messi
"He’s super hungry. In terms of his mentality, he’s a shark. He wants to grab everything he can have. In private, he’s a super nice guy, super intelligent, super funny. But once he’s on the pitch, he’s a shark." Thomas Tuchel
"What a player! You just want to see him play. He’s an extraordinary guy. That’s the style of play I love." Ronaldinho
When he was 14, Mbappe visited Real Madrid for a week-long training camp and was greeted by none other than Zinedine Zidane, only for Mbappe and his entourage to opt for Monaco just a few months later. “Real wanted Kylian, but we had fewer points of reference there,” the prodigy’s father, Wilfrid Mbappe, told Le Parisien.
Although he was a boyhood fan of Real Madrid, Mbappe also followed another foreign club: AC Milan. “When he came home, all he talked about was Milan,” recalled his mother, Fayza Lamari, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. “If they lost, he would throw the remote at the television and curse in Italian.”
Some of his France team-mates nicknamed him “37” after Les Bleus’ 4-3 win over Argentina in the round of 16 at Russia 2018. In the 13th minute, Mbappe was clocked at 37km/h in an unforgettable solo run that led to France’s opening goal.
In 2024, at the age of 25, he became one of the youngest owners of a European professional club when he acquired a majority stake (80%) in SM Caen through the Coalition Capital investment arm of his company, Interconnected Ventures.
Mbappe is the most popular French player on Instagram with over 130 million followers, well ahead of Karim Benzema (75 million) and Paul Pogba (65 million).
With his hat-trick against Argentina at Qatar 2022, Mbappe equalled a long-standing record for the most goals in a single World Cup final, an honour he now shares with Geoff Hurst, who notched three for England in in the 1966 showpiece.
On the evening of 18 December 2022 at Lusail Stadium, Mbappe became the youngest-ever player to feature in two World Cup finals at the age of just 23 years, 11 months and 29 days.
If France reach the 2026 final at New York New Jersey Stadium on 19 July, Mbappe could well emulate Brazil’s Cafu, who currently holds the record for playing in the most consecutive finals (1994, 1998 and 2002).
If he scores five goals at the 2026 World Cup in North America, Mbappe, currently on 12, would overtake Miroslav Klose (16) to become, at the age of 27, the tournament’s all-time top scorer.
If he does surpass Klose, he would also leave a French legend in his wake – Just Fontaine, scorer of 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. If he scores at least twice, Mbappe will become France’s top World Cup scorer.
Mbappe has won five Player of the Match awards at the World Cup. In North America this June and July, he could also break the record held by Lionel Messi (9).
Mbappe certainly didn’t do things by halves in his first World Cup in 2018, going all the way with France and finding the back of the net four times. After scoring the only goal of the game in the group stage against Peru, he delivered a masterclass in Les Bleus’ 4-3 win over Argentina in the Round of 16, scoring twice and winning a penalty for Antoine Griezmann’s opener after a dazzling burst of acceleration.
In the final, he scored France’s last goal in a 4-2 win over Croatia, and his star turns were enough to earn him the Hyundai FIFA Young Player Award.
Four years later, at Qatar 2022, he proved that he was a man for the big moments as he fired Les Bleus to their second consecutive final. In the group stage, Mbappe scored three times in his first two matches, a 4-1 win against Australia and a 2-1 victory over Denmark.
Just as he had in 2018, he scored twice in the Round of 16, and also added an assist for Olivier Giroud’s opener in a 3-1 stroll past Poland. His personal highlight came in the final against Argentina with a memorable hat-trick, but it was not enough to secure ultimate glory for France again.
He did not leave Qatar empty-handed though, picking up the adidas Golden Boot on the back of his eight goals as well as the adidas Silver Ball.
With a squad bursting with talent, France will surely once again be one of the favourites to go all the way in 2026. Although they boast a solid defence built around William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, as well as a powerful midfield featuring Serie A stars Manu Kone and Adrien Rabiot, Les Bleus above all have an attack that would strike fear into any defence.
Aside from captain Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele has been in exceptional form over the past 12 months, and his performances in 2025 secured The Best FIFA Men’s Player award. Michael Olise could also be one of the star turns at the North American showpiece given his scintillating stats at Bayern Munich (22 goals and 36 assists in 55 Bundesliga matches). Rayan Cherki and Desire Doue (named best young player at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ with Paris Saint-Germain) are others who could well make a case for inclusion. A third consecutive final will certainly be in the sights of Mbappe and his team-mates, who will bid farewell to coach Didier Deschamps at the end of the World Cup after 14 years of loyal service.
France begin their Group I campaign against Senegal in New York New Jersey on Tuesday, 16 June before a meeting with either Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname in Philadelphia six days later. Les Bleus wrap up their initial encounters with a blockbuster showdown against Erling Haaland's Norway in Boston on Friday, 26 June.