Kylian Mbappé walks onto the field against Iraq tonight and becomes just the ninth French player ever to reach 100 international appearances. He’s 27 years old. Let that sink in for a second.
Most guys hit triple digits in their mid-30s, if they get there at all. Mbappé did it before his prime even peaked. He made his France debut at 18 as a late sub for Dimitri Payet back in 2017. A year later he was starting a World Cup final and scoring in it. Now he’s playing in his third World Cup, already the country’s all-time leading scorer, and he still has, conservatively, another six or seven years of top-level soccer ahead of him.
He sits at 58 goals for France right now. He passed Olivier Giroud for the top spot earlier in this tournament. At his current rate — 0.59 goals per game — he could finish his career at 100-plus international goals. That’s the kind of number that used to belong only to Cristiano Ronaldo and Ali Daei territory.
A century of service, but not just service
The list of French centurions is basically a Hall of Fame roster. Hugo Lloris leads with 145. Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, and current coach Didier Deschamps are all in there. Mbappé joins them at a pace that’s almost disrespectful to the timeline.
But the raw numbers only tell part of the story. He’s got 34 assists for France too. At the World Cup specifically, he’s been ridiculous — 14 goals and two assists in 15 matches, 13 of them starts. That’s better than a goal contribution per game at the highest level. He scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final and still ended up on the losing side against Messi’s Argentina. That’s the one blemish on an otherwise spotless tournament resume.
Still chasing history
Mbappé is one goal away from tying Ronaldo’s World Cup scoring record, and two short of the all-time mark shared by Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi. Messi is playing his final World Cup right now. Mbappé probably has two or three more after this one.
“There is nothing that represents a greater privilege than playing for the national team,” Mbappé said. “The 100th match at the World Cup will be special.”
France is among the favorites again. If they make another deep run, Mbappé could leave this tournament with the career World Cup goals record and a second title. But even if he never played another game for France — which obviously he will — he’s already a lock for the pantheon. The question is just how high he’ll climb.
Leave a Comment