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Kylian Mbappé news
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Kylian Mbappé hit 71 Champions League goals, level with Raúl in the all-time top five.
Ahead of the Ballon d'Or he says no player has been better than him.
Background
Mbappé is in his second season at Real Madrid after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, and was last season's top scorer in both LaLiga (25 goals in 31 games) and the Champions League (15 goals), with 42 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions. He is France's all-time record scorer with 66 goals and the World Cup's leading all-time scorer with 22 goals. His recent comments come in a France Football interview ahead of the 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony, where he is among the nominees.
How it unfolded
- Sep 8, 2026Mbappé scored Real Madrid's opening goal in a 2-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan, his 71st in the competition, moving him level with Raúl as joint fifth all-time scorer; he collected his Golden Boot before kickoff.
- Sep 8, 2026His brother Ethan Mbappé, 19, was sent off in the 56th minute for elbowing an opponent during Lille's 3-2 home defeat to Real Betis.
- Sep 10, 2026MARCA reported that in a France Football interview, only a small part of which had come to light, Mbappé responded to criticism.
- Sep 11, 2026Mbappé criticised a viral AI-generated meme superimposing his face on a dictator's body, saying it shows 'a lack of political and human awareness'.
- Sep 11, 2026Mbappé responded to criticism of his defensive commitment at Real Madrid, saying it is 'not something I take personally'.
- Sep 12, 2026Ahead of the 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony, Mbappé said in a France Football interview: 'There has been no better player than me.'
Who’s saying what
- Player
- Mbappé said 'there has been no better player than me' and argued that 'a player who scores goals will never be a problem for a team, because I've never seen a team win titles by scoring zero goals'.
- Caution
- Mbappé's self-assessment came in a season in which he failed to lift a single trophy, and he has faced criticism over his defensive commitment at Real Madrid.