Mbappé becomes the youngest player this century to reach historic goals milestone | OneFootball

At 26 years and 328 days, Kylian Mbappé (26) is the youngest player to reach the 400-goal mark in the 21st century. That’s ahead of some pretty exclusive company, including Lionel Messi, Mbappé’s ex-teammate at Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentine reached that number at 27 years and 95 days. That said, it took him 525 matches to achieve this feat for club and country, with the French skipper doing it in 537 games.

The record international goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo (40), didn’t reach 400 until he was nearly 29 (28 years and 335 days). Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane (32) got there at 30 years, 274 days. Fellow Frenchman Thierry Henry got there at the age of 36 years and 30 years, while Mbappé’s former teammate with Les Bleus, Karim Benzema (37), achieved that milestone when he was 34 years and four days old.

In the history of the game, only one player has ever gotten to 400 goals combined for club and country faster than Mbappé, the late Pélé. The King reached that mark when he was only 23.

That is yet another parallel between Pelé and Mbappé and their achievements. In 2018, the Paris-born striker became the second-ever teenager to score in a World Cup final. The only one to do it before him was the three-time world champion Brazilian, who was 17 when he netted a brace in the 1958 World Cup final.

Mbappé scored a hat trick in the 2022 final against Argentina, giving him four goals all-time in ultimate World Cup match. That’s one more that Pélé had in his illustrious career as a footballer.

The Real Madrid star is only the fifth player in World Cup history to find the back of the net in separate World Cup finals. The only others to do so were Vava, Pélé, Paul Breitner and perhaps Mbappé’s future national team coach Zinedine Zidane.

Mbappé is off to a sensational start to the new campaign, scoring 23 times combined for Los Blancos and Les Bleus. In part thanks to Thursday’s brace by Mbappé, France officially booked a place in the 2026 World Cup.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre