2023-10-14 16:50:00
With a curling, dry and sudden strike, Kylian Mbappé scored his 42nd goal in the selection against the Netherlands (2-1). But if the skylight he found ensured qualification for his team, it above all put him a little more in the legend of the Blues.
Only six years after his first goal, already against the Netherlands (4-0), the Parisian dislodged Michel Platini and found himself fourth top scorer in the history of the Blues. With the marks of Antoine Griezmann (44 goals), Thierry Henry (51) and especially Olivier Giroud (54) in their sights.
Far from the leaders of other nations
But where does this figure place the Bondynois in the international ranking of top scorers in the selection? Far ahead, Cristiano Ronaldo and his 125 goals dominate the debates. Other players still seem unattainable for a few years like Romelu Lukaku (75), Neymar (79), Lionel Messi (104) or the Iranian Ali Daei (109), second best international scorer.
But despite the gap, the former Monegasque has reason to be calm in his quest for the summits: he is ahead of all the passing times. At his age – 24 years and 10 months – Cristiano Ronaldo only had 20 goals with Portugal, Lionel Messi 22 with the Albiceleste and Romelu Lukaku 30 for Belgium. Among active players, only Neymar was more prolific and had made 50 appearances for the national team before he turned 25.
Well ahead in Blue
At the level of the Blues, the performance is even more impressive. If we only take the goals before the age of 25, David Trezeguet is right behind Mbappé but with almost half as many achievements. The record holder Olivier Giroud still did not have the slightest selection. After several seasons in Ligue 2, he exploded late in Montpellier and was only called up for the first time at 25 years and 1 month.
The explanation for this gap is obviously found in the efficiency of the Parisian from the age of 19. But if no one disputes his statistical voracity, he also has more opportunity to satisfy it. With the increase in matches, Mbappé has more opportunities to score in quantity over a shorter period.
For example, the Blues played 68 matches between 2018 and 2022. And this, while the Covid paralyzed selection football for 10 months. This remains 16 more than Michel Platini’s French team, which only participated in 52 matches between 1982 and 1986. It had nevertheless achieved good results in competition with two semi-finals during the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. and a victory at Euro 1984. Not enough to compete with the pace of the current players, who have shown their discontent in recent days.
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