Kylian Mbappé surpassed 500 goal involvements for club and country on Wednesday.
Here, we look at how his record compares to modern greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Manchester City couldn’t handle him. Kylian Mbappé was virtually unplayable as he sent Pep Guardiola’s side packing and put Real Madrid into the UEFA Champions League last 16 with a sensational hat-trick in Wednesday’s 3-1 win at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The Frenchman had City’s defence on strings, his dynamism, technical quality and speed just too much for them to handle – and then, three times he applied the finish, each one another nail in the coffin of City’s disappointing 2024-25.
For some, seeing Real Madrid’s number nine in such devastating form against a major power of English football might have evoked memories of Brazilian great Ronaldo tearing Manchester United apart at Old Trafford in 2003.
Sure, United actually won that game 4-3, but Ronaldo’s hat-trick eliminated United and went down as one of the Champions League’s most iconic individual performances.
Mbappé’s showing may not come to be held in quite the same regard, but he was similarly unstoppable.
His first goal saw him race on to a lofted ball from the back and coolly lob Ederson after Rúben Dias couldn’t stretch to cut out the pass; then, he left a desperate Josko Gvardiol on his backside in the penalty area with a clever feint before slotting home.
Finally, he completed his hat-trick with a perfectly placed left-footed strike into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box having skilfully evaded Phil Foden with a stepover.
Those three goals made it a night of notable achievements for the France international.
He became the first player to score in both legs of a Champions League knockout tie against City on two occasions, having also done so for Monaco in the last 16 in 2016-17.
Similarly, before Wednesday, no one else had ever scored a hat-trick in a knockout game versus a side managed by Pep Guardiola.
Mbappé now sits on seven goals in Europe this term, which is already the joint most by a player in their first season for Madrid in the Champions League/European club, moving level with Cristiano Ronaldo (2009-10) and Justo Tejada (1961-62).
But perhaps most strikingly, Mbappé ended the match having reached 501 goal involvements for club and country in his astonishing career, aged just 26 years and 61 days old.
His brilliant second goal of the game was a fitting way to reach the 500 milestone, reminding us of the excellence he possesses in tight spaces despite most generally considering his speed to be his greatest – or most recognisable – asset.
Obviously 501 goal involvements sounds pretty handy, and we all know Mbappé is an exceptional player anyway.
- But just how significant is such a total by his age?
When trying to provide context to such a figure, we are of course somewhat limited by the amount of data on record across the history of the game.
Organised data collection on a mass scale is a relatively new phenomenon and understandably more focus is given to the present day.
But thankfully, there have been a couple of all-time greats gracing our pitches and television screens in this more data-friendly era; two players who’ll be the benchmark for all future superstar forwards.
We have all goals and assists data for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi across their illustrious careers for top-flight clubs and at international level.
Of course, they’re both still going at the grand old ages of 40 and 37, respectively, with Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia at Al Nassr and Messi playing for MLS franchise Inter Miami.
Across their careers (but excluding their time with B or C teams at Barcelona and Sporting CP) at club and senior international level, each of them has surpassed 1,000 goal involvements.
Ronaldo has scored more (948 to Messi’s 851), but Messi has more assists (369 to Ronaldo’s 248) and a higher total overall (1,220 to Ronaldo’s 1,172).
Mbappé is of course a long way off, both in terms of general longevity and total.
However, his 501 goal involvements by the age of 26 years and 61 days is more than what Messi and Ronaldo managed by the same age across top-flight clubs and at international level.
Ronaldo was that age in April 2011 and had recorded 304 goal involvements for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal by that point.
Messi was 26 years and 61 days old in August 2013, when he tallied 480 goal involvements for Barcelona and Argentina, meaning Mbappé is clear of both icons, and considerably so in the case of Ronaldo.
This obviously isn’t to say Mbappé is necessarily better than either Messi or Ronaldo at the same age. Nor are we suggesting the Frenchman will go on to rival their legacies or (ongoing) totals.
Sometimes there’s no underlying meaning beyond just wanting to provide context to an achievement or landmark, and Mbappé’s latest achievement simply outlines what an astonishing start he’s had to a career that’ll hopefully be just as successful and record-laden as those of Ronaldo and Messi.
It wasn’t so long ago that his first season in Madrid was being spoken about as something of a disappointment.
And, who knows? Perhaps Los Blancos will ultimately end up winning nothing with him.
But Mbappé’s hit a rich vein of form that suggests his settling-in period is firmly behind him, with Wednesday’s treble taking him to 19 goals in his past 20 appearances in all competitions, or 13 in his past 10.
He is now on 32 goal involvements for the season, which despite being some way off the 54 he managed in his final campaign at Paris Saint-Germain and his career-best 60 in 2021-22, it’s still a mightily impressive haul for a player in his first season at the club.
In fact, he’s already only eight off the 40 Cristiano Ronaldo managed in his maiden campaign at the Santiago Bernabéu, and as we know, Ronaldo went on to break practically every record on offer.
The future’s always in motion, but the signs suggest Mbappé is primed to have a similar level of impact.