Project Mbappe - The Road to Becoming France's Record Scorer
Just Fontaine, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Thierry Henry, Olivier Giroud.
France has produced many outstanding attacking players over the years. However, none have surpassed Kylian Mbappe in terms of goalscoring after his strikes in France's World Cup opener against Senegal.
The Real Madrid forward has become France's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Olivier Giroud with his 58th goal for Les Bleus at just 27 years old.
"Congratulations Kylian," Giroud said on BBC One, where he was a pundit for France's game against Senegal. "I'm happy for him. "It makes sense, it was expected. He will beat every single record - the number of caps and goals. I think he can easily reach 100 goals and maybe [beat] Miroslav Klose's World Cup record. He's delivered great performances in World Cups and big games."
Mbappe's 58 goals were scored in just 99 appearances for France. His goals on Tuesday also brought his World Cup tally to 14, just two shy of Germany's Miroslav Klose, who holds the record with 16.
"A lot of team-mates ask me about him," Giroud added. "For me it's just ambition and confidence. "He knows where he wants to go, he is a leader and you could see from a young age he was very at ease. He was mature for his age. He is a good team-mate, he is an incredible talent and I think he is a proper leader on and off the pitch."
Mbappe opened the scoring against Senegal.
French Football Expert's Perspective
French football expert Julien Laurens believes Mbappe will become the greatest player in France's history.
"There is still a lot more to come from him but if we are to stop it right now, Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini certainly remain the top two French players of all time," Laurens said. "After that it is Mbappe ahead of Thierry Henry, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and others. Even the ones from the old generation like Raymond Kopa. "It is not just for his goals, but his leadership now as captain on the field, winning the World Cup in 2018, scoring a hat-trick in the final in 2022. "I predict him to be the number one by the end of his career. He has at least one more World Cup after this and the Euros to play in so he will probably become the greatest player we have ever had."
Kylian Mbappe: From Bondy to Idolising Cristiano Ronaldo
The Numbers and the Accolades
Mbappe made his international debut in March 2017. He scored his first goal for France in his fourth appearance, a 4-0 World Cup qualifier victory against the Netherlands.
Earlier that day, Paris Saint-Germain agreed on a season-long loan deal to sign the then-18-year-old striker from Monaco, with an option to buy for £165.7 million.
PSG later activated the option, making Mbappe the most expensive teenager in football history.
By the time Mbappe completed his move to Paris, he was already a national hero. He had led France to World Cup victory in 2018, becoming the youngest French player to score at a World Cup and the second teenager after Pele to score in a World Cup final.
He finished as the joint second-highest goalscorer in the 2018 tournament and was named the Young Player of the Tournament.
By the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Mbappe had established himself as France's key player. At 23 years old, he became only the second player after England's Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, although France lost to Argentina on penalties.
A Project Fulfilled
Kylian Mbappe made his first start for France — his third cap — in a 3-2 friendly win against England in June 2017.
Mbappe and his family always intended for him to reach the pinnacle of global football, which led to the concept of 'Project Mbappe'.
"Kylian was just school and football," childhood friend Rayan Viyanga said in a documentary titled Mbappe. "School, football, home."
Born in 1998 in Bondy, a suburb on the outskirts of Paris, just five months after France's first World Cup win, Mbappe grew up overlooking the AS Bondy football pitches where his father Wilfried was a player and coach.
"Kylian was already one step ahead of many other players at AS Bondy," Viyanga said. "He was advanced for his age group and wanted to play with the best. That was a strict rule of his, to play with the best."
Laurens added,
"As a kid, he learned La Marseillaise at the age of three just to be ready to sing it when that first cap would come."
Mbappe's mother, Fayza Lamari, is a former professional handball player. Mbappe idolised Cristiano Ronaldo and watched footage of Zinedine Zidane, another Real Madrid legend. A significant influence was his adopted brother Jires Kembo Ekoko, who was selected for the French Federation's national academy at Clairefontaine years before Mbappe and later played for Rennes in Ligue 1.
French football expert Matt Spiro told ,
"Kylian initially found it a bit difficult at Clairefontaine. He was there for two years and during the first year, he certainly wasn't the best in his group. "Mbappe would play out on the wing and would quite frequently be in a sulky mood. "He had a growth spurt, I think towards the end of his first year in Clairefontaine, and by the second year, he was really starting to look the business."
His rapid rise was not unexpected; Nike had already provided him with free boots at age 10. Tracked by Europe's top clubs from an early age, Mbappe left Paris for Monaco at 14. Despite interest from Chelsea and Real Madrid, his family insisted he remain in France during his teenage years.
At 16 years and 347 days, Mbappe became Monaco's youngest-ever player, breaking Thierry Henry's 1994 record, when he appeared as an 88th-minute substitute against Caen. Three months later, he became Monaco's youngest goalscorer with a goal against Troyes, again surpassing Henry's record.
"When he broke through at Monaco, you could tell the talent was so unique," Laurens said. "We have had great youngsters and talent, but he has something a little bit different."
From Ego to Leadership
Shortly after joining Monaco, Mbappe and his teammates were tasked with designing a magazine cover featuring themselves. While a sports or national magazine would have been logical, Mbappe chose the internationally recognised Time Magazine with the headline "El Maestro. The Master."
Four years later, after leading France to World Cup victory in Russia and joining Pele as only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final, Mbappe's face appeared on the actual cover of Time Magazine.
Mbappe's ability to envision the bigger picture at a young age contributed to the term 'Project Mbappe'. This concept, where children receive intensive football coaching from an early age, gained popularity on social media following his rapid rise. The term reflects the strategic plans set by Mbappe's family, aware of his exceptional talent.
In 2017, Mbappe became the most expensive teenager in football history when he declined Real Madrid's offer to join PSG. Real Madrid had to wait seven years to sign him.
With such attention, an ego was inevitable.
"Ego is a necessary drive for success," former PSG performance director Martin Buccheit told . "But it's more about having a hand on the dial to control it. "Kylian didn't always have the hand on the dial. But for sure the family, the mum and the parents were really behind him. And I could feel that maybe the parents had the volume in their hands."
Mbappe was appointed France captain by Didier Deschamps in 2023. Despite not yet having won a Champions League title or the Ballon d'Or, it appears Project Mbappe still has a long way to go.
"He is a very self-centred guy, but once he got the armband he knew he had to be a proper leader," Laurens added. "Not only for his goals and assists, but I would be very surprised if he ends his career without winning the Ballon d'Or and at least one Champions League. "In terms of the trophy cabinet, his would be better and bigger than Zidane and Platini but everything else such as the goalscoring record will too."
