Striker Kylian Mbappe admitted that he still has a long way to go to catch up with the scoring achievements of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, after scoring a hat-trick against Gibraltar and reaching the 300-goal mark.
Hat-trick against Gibraltar in Euro 2024 qualifying on November 18 helped Mbappe become the youngest player to reach 300 goals in his career at just 24 years, 10 months and 29 days. Lionel Messi reached this milestone at the age of 25 years, 4 months and 3 days, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th goal at the age of 27. Currently, Ronaldo has 859 goals, including 731 goals at the club level and 128 goals at the team level, while Messi There are 721 goals at club level and 106 goals at team level.
“Some players have scored 800 goals, even 850 goals in their career. Putting someone who scored 300 goals next to such milestones is ridiculous,” Mbappe told TV channel Téléfoot after the win over Gibraltar . “This is a step forward for me, and I want to continue to play a decisive role for the team and the club.”
Mbappe celebrates his goal in France’s 14-0 defeat of Gibraltar at Riviera, Nice in Euro 2024 qualifying on November 18. Photo: AFP
On the day Mbappe made history, France also set a record for the biggest win in history when they crushed Gibraltar 14-0. This is also the most discrepant win in Euro qualifying history, breaking the record of Germany’s 13-0 victory over San Marino in 2006.
Mbappe said the whole team aims to break the record for the biggest win in French football history, so they play seriously throughout the 90 minutes. The 24-year-old striker is more proud of his collective achievements than reaching the 300-goal mark. “We need to highlight collective victory,” he expressed. “There have been many generations of talented French teams, so setting the record for the biggest win is something special. Team excellence is much more valuable than the best individual performance.”
Mbappe completed his hat-trick and reached the 300-goal mark with a super goal in the 82nd minute. He received the ball from Youssouf Fofana and lobbed the ball from 40 meters over the head of the Gibraltar goalkeeper. The French captain striker revealed that he had been paying attention to the Gibraltar goalkeeper’s position for about 20-25 minutes before. “I saw him rising quite high and didn’t understand why,” Mbappe said. “After that, scoring was just instinct. When I received the ball from Fofana, I knew immediately that I was going to score. Today, the ball went into the net, maybe at another time it didn’t.”
Not only did Mbappe score a hat-trick, he also contributed three assists when he set up goals for Jonathan Clauss, Youssouf Fofana and Kingsley Coman. “The captaincy forces you to change. If you don’t want to change, you won’t be qualified to be captain,” the 24-year-old striker said. “When I was not the captain, I had a more personal view of personal achievements. Now as captain, I have to think about my teammates first.”
Mbappe admitted that he had to change and develop his playing style over time, giving the example of Messi playing at PSG differently than when he played for Barca. “Football changes over time. If you don’t change, football will change to something else and you will be forgotten,” the French captain emphasized.
