France legend calls Kylian Mbappe the country’s best ever 

After a stint on the sidelines over the last month, Kylian Mbappe returned to the pitch a couple weeks ago and returned to the scoresheet for his national team on Thursday night. He is closing in on the all time record for goals with the French national team.

Real recognize real

Jean-Pierre Papin is no stranger to scoring for the French team, but claims he has never seen anything like what Mbappe is doing. Speaking to RMC, the former AC Milan and Marseille star said, “I think that, today, he is the greatest striker in the history of the French team, yes. And you know what? I think he’s going to be even greater.”

Papin appeared in 54 matches and scored 30 goals in his national team career, and remains the only player in history to win a Balon D’Or with a French club. While that is one achievement that Mbappe has yet to put on his resumé, Papin did admit that the World Cup that the Real Madrid has won is something he might have exchanged for his Balon D’Or.

“He hasn’t had the Ballon d’Or yet, yes, but me, would I exchange my Ballon d’Or for a title with the French team? Maybe. It’s something to think about,” Papin admitted. “I never played to win the Ballon d’Or, and I got it. Whereas I would have so much liked to have a World Cup, and I never had it,” said Papin.

Mbappe’s missing link

Mbappe scored the first goal in France’s 2-1 win over Brazil, and his goal was the 56th in 95 matches with France, and puts him just one behind Oliver Giroud’s all time record of 57 in 137 appearances. Mbappe is likely to break that record either in France’s next match against Colombia on Sunday, and if not Sunday during the World Cup this summer.

Mbappe doesn’t just have a Balon D’Or to add to his CV, but a Champions League title. He left PSG two summers ago only to see PSG win the Champions League for the first time in club history. Now he is looking to win one with the winningest team in the competition.

Real Madrid are heading to the quarterfinals of the Champions where they will take on Bayern Munich, and with a fully fit Mbappe and their prestige in the tournament, you wouldn’t bet against them. If Mbappe were to win it with Madrid, he would have to be in consideration for a Balon D’Or which could potentially scratch two things off the to do list of Mbappe at once. He has scored 38 goals in 35 matches with Real Madrid this season, and missed the last few weeks with a knee injury.

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