Mbappé breaks 64-year-old record with strike against Greece
The PSG star saw his 53rd-minute penalty saved by Vlachodimos, but the referee order the spot-kick to be retaken. Mbappé converted at the second attempt and set a new French record.
Records are there to be be broken and Kylian Mbappé claimed another one in this evening’s victory over Greece. A French record that had stood for 64 years, held by the legendary striker Just Fontaine, who passed away earlier this year aged 89. With his 54th minute spot-kick, the PSG forward racked up a total of 54 goals for club and country in 2022/23 - the most goals any French player has scored in one season.
Kylian’s goals can be broken down as follows: 41 for PSG - 29 in Ligue 1, seven in the Champions League and one in the Coupe de France. On top of that, he has scored 13 goals at international level for France.
Mbappé’s goals for France in 2022/23
Nations League
- Austria 1-1 France
- France 2-0 Austria
2022 World Cup
- France 4-1 Australia
- Denmark 1-2 France (2)
- Poland 1-3 France (2)
- Argentina 3-3 France (3)
Euro 2024 qualifiers
- France 4-0 Netherlands (2)
- Gibraltar 0-3 France
- France 1-0 Greece
In 1957/58, Just Fontaine netted 34 league goals for Stade Reims - close to half of the team’s combined tally as they were crowned Ligue 1 champions for the fourth time in club history plus another five in the Coupe de France.
Like Mbappé, the striker also bagged 13 goals for France - a feat which is even more incredible considering all of those goals were scored in one edition of the World Cup. Fontaine found the back of the net in every game at Sweden 1958 - including hat tricks against Paraguay and Germany and braces against Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland.
Even today, no player has managed to score as many goals in a single edition of the World Cup - one of Fontaine’s records that appears to be safe, for now, and may never be surpassed.