France striker Kylian Mbappe admits he still has a long way to go to catch up with the goalscoring records of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, after scoring a hat-trick against Gibraltar and reaching the 300-goal mark.
A hat-trick against Gibraltar in the Euro 2024 qualifiers on November 18 helped Mbappe become the youngest player to reach 300 career goals at the age of 24 years, 10 months and 29 days. Lionel Messi reached the milestone at 25 years, 4 months and 3 days, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th goal at 27. Ronaldo currently has 859 goals, including 731 at club level and 128 at international level, while Messi has 721 at club level and 106 at international level.
"Some players have scored 800, even 850 goals in their careers. To put someone who scores 300 goals next to those milestones is ridiculous," Mbappe told 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 win over Gibraltar at the Riviera Stadium in Nice in the Euro 2024 qualifiers 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 was also the biggest win in Euro qualifying history, breaking the record of Germany's 13-0 win over San Marino in 2006.
Mbappe said the team aimed to break the record for the biggest win in French football history, so they played seriously throughout the 90 minutes. The 24-year-old striker was more proud of the collective achievement than reaching the 300-goal mark. "We need to highlight the collective victory," he said. "There have been many generations of talented French teams, so setting the record for the biggest win is something special. A great team is much more valuable than the best individual achievement."
Mbappe completed his hat-trick and reached the 300-goal mark with a superb strike in the 82nd minute. He received the ball from Youssouf Fofana and chipped the ball 40 metres over the Gibraltar goalkeeper. The France captain revealed that he had been paying attention to the Gibraltar goalkeeper's position for about 20-25 minutes before. "I saw him going up quite high and I 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 shoot. Today the ball went in, maybe at another time it wouldn't have."
Not only did Mbappe score a hat-trick, he also contributed three assists, setting up Jonathan Clauss, Youssouf Fofana and Kingsley Coman. "The captaincy forces you to change, and if you don't want to change, you're not qualified to be a captain," said the 24-year-old striker. "When I wasn't the captain, I had a more personal view of my own achievements. Now that I'm the captain, I have to think about my teammates first."
Mbappe admitted that he had to change and develop his playing style over time, citing the difference between Messi's time at PSG and his time at Barca. "Football changes over time. If you don't change, football will change and you will be forgotten," the French captain emphasized.
Hong Duy
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