Mbappé

Kylian Mbappé Lottin, born 20 December 1998 in Paris and raised in Bondy, plays forward for Real Madrid and captains the French national team. His speed, dribbling, and finishing have made him one of the world’s best players and among the greatest French footballers ever. In his senior career, he has netted over 400 goals, holding the all-time scoring record for Paris Saint-Germain (256), France (66), and the FIFA World Cup (22).

Mbappé started his senior career at Monaco in 2015, winning the 2016–17 Ligue 1 title—the club’s first league championship in 17 years. At 18, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a €180 million permanent transfer, making him the second-most-expensive player globally. With PSG, he claimed 15 trophies, including six Ligue 1 titles and four Coupes de France, and reached the 2020 Champions League final. He led Ligue 1 in scoring a record six times and won Ligue 1 Player of the Year a record five times. In 2024, he joined Real Madrid on a free transfer, scoring in the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup as Madrid won both. He earned the European Golden Shoe in 2025 and was La Liga’s top scorer in 2025 and 2026, as well as the Champions League’s top scorer in 2026.

He debuted for France in 2017. At the 2018 World Cup, he became the second teenager after Pelé to score in a final and win the tournament, earning the Best Young Player award and French Player of the Year honors. He helped France win the 2021 UEFA Nations League, finishing as the finals’ top scorer. At the 2022 World Cup, he led France to a second straight final, scoring a hat-trick, setting a record for most goals in World Cup finals (4), and winning the Golden Boot and Silver Ball. In the 2026 World Cup, his 10 goals earned him another Golden Boot, tying Gerd Müller for the third-highest single-tournament tally, and making him the first player to win multiple World Cup Golden Boots.

Whoscored.com rated him Europe’s best performer from 2021 to 2022. He was runner-up for The Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2022 and third in the 2023 Ballon d’Or voting. He has twice been the UEFA Champions League top scorer in a season and twice awarded the IFFHS World’s Best Top Goal Scorer. He has appeared in the FIFPRO World 11 six times and the IFFHS Men’s World Team five times. He won the Golden Boy in 2017 and the Kopa Trophy in 2018. In the 2021–22 season, he became the first player to finish as both Ligue 1 top scorer and top assist provider. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in 2023, and Forbes listed him among the world’s ten highest-paid athletes in 2023 and 2024.

Mbappé’s father, Wilfrid, is a football coach from the Cameroonian island of Bioko; his mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian Kabyle origin and a former handball player who also acts as his agent. He has a younger brother, Ethan, who plays for Lille, and an older adopted brother, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, a former professional footballer. As a child, he attended a private Catholic school in Bondy, where he was academically gifted but unruly. He began Spanish lessons at 15 and became fluent. His favorite team growing up was Real Madrid, and he also supported AC Milan; his football idols include Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo Nazario, Eden Hazard, and Thierry Henry. In May 2024, days before his Real Madrid transfer was announced, he said he still follows AC Milan and would like to play for them one day.

He started at AS Bondy at age six, coached by his father among others, then moved to the Clairefontaine academy. His performances attracted interest from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich. At 11, he trained with Real Madrid’s under-12 team. Caen tracked him for three years but could not afford him after their relegation from Ligue 1 in 2012.

At 14, he played a youth match for Chelsea against Charlton Athletic. In July 2013, at 14, he joined Monaco’s youth academy, signing a three-year contract despite Real Madrid’s efforts. In October 2015, he was promoted to Monaco’s reserve team but moved to the senior squad after three weeks. He debuted on 2 December 2015 against Caen, becoming Monaco’s youngest-ever first-team player, breaking Thierry Henry’s record.

He scored his first goal on 20 February 2016, becoming the club’s youngest goalscorer. He signed his first professional contract on 6 March 2016, keeping him at Monaco until June 2019. His first hat-trick came on 14 December 2016 in a 7–0 win over Rennes in the Coupe de la Ligue.