(Paris) Kylian Mbappé reached the plateau of 300 career goals faster than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Former star player of the France team, Thierry Henry, is impressed.
Mbappé accomplished the feat over the weekend, aged 24 years and 333 days, in a one-sided 14-0 victory over Gibraltar. Messi and Ronaldo, two of the greatest players of the 21st century, reached that plateau less quickly than him.
“What this young person is doing is extraordinary,” said Henry, who now manages the French under-21 team. It’s simply incredible. »
Mbappé was often compared to Henry early in his career. Both rose through the ranks at the Clairefontaine National Football Institute, before finding themselves on the wings with Monaco – where they each won the French championship at a young age. Mbappé also reproduced a feat from Henry, when he won the World Cup on his first start in a major tournament with France. Henry won the precious trophy in 1998.
Mbappé has also been compared to legendary Brazilian player Pelé, due to his early success. However, in terms of style, focusing on speed and individual skills, he resembles Henry more.
“He’s a scorer, a playmaker; he excels in all facets of the game, mentioned the man who also led CF Montreal in MLS from 2019 to 2021. Certainly, he can still improve, but that is not the point. »
With his 17th career hat trick, Mbappé now has 21 goals to his name in 19 games this season. It was the Parie Saint-Germain star player’s 46th goal in 74 international appearances. He is only five goals behind Henry in the list of top scorers for the French team, and 10 from the national record which belongs to his teammate Olivier Giroud.
When asked how many goals Mbappé could score in total with the France team, Henry joked that he could reach the plateau of 1000. He then added that “it all depends on him”.
“He lives for football; it is always well prepared and it does not scatter. His professionalism and passion are still there, Henry noted. 300 goals? Some didn’t even make it including those done in training. »
As for himself, Mbappé said the 300-goal mark was just a number.
“I know where I want to go, and I want to score a lot more than 300,” he told the TF1 channel. I have always wanted to make the history of my sport. »
