Kylian Mbappe built upon his incredible World Cup record when he hauled France to the brink of glory at Qatar 2022.
Argentina appeared to be cruising to victory in the final before Mbappe's late brace forced extra time and he then became the first player since England great Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final.
Les Bleus eventually came up short on penalties, meaning Mbappe was unable to claim back-to-back world titles, having scored in the final win over Croatia to cap a breakout 2018 tournament in Russia.
It means the soon-to-be Real Madrid superstar has 12 goals in 14 World Cup finals appearances. At the end of 2023, that accounted for more than a quarter of his overall international goals tally and, by comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored eight times in 22 World Cup finals appearances.
Euro 2024 is currently on the agenda for France and Mbappe, who is helming another bid for glory in Germany. But what is his record in the European Championship? The Sporting News explores.
Kylian Mbappe's total France goals
First, here's a breakdown of the 25-year-old's overall France record across all competitions.
Competition | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
World Cup | 14 | 12 |
World Cup qualification | 12 | 6 |
European Championships | 6 | 1 |
European Championships qualifiers | 13 | 12 |
UEFA Nations League | 15 | 7 |
International friendlies | 21 | 10 |
| TOTAL | 81 | 48 |
Kylian Mbappe European Championship record
Mbappe has finally broken his European Championship goal scoring hoodoo. Prior to his appearance against Poland in the final Group D match at Euro 2024, there was a glaring blank in the table above.
That highlighted the major misstep of Mbappe's international career to date. But against the Poles, on June 25, he netted his first goal at a Euros finals, stepping up from the penalty spot in the second half to put Les Bleus ahead in the 1-1 draw.
That goal was a long time in coming.
On his only other Euros experience, France headed into Euro 2020 — which was delayed until the European summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic — with hopes high but drawn in a devilishly tough group. They opened with a 1-0 win over Germany in Munich, where a goal disallowed for offside was the closest Mbappe came to finding the net in the tournament.
The other two members of France's dream forward line were on target in the back-to-back draws that followed. Antoine Griezmann's second-half equaliser in Budapest secured a 1-1 scoreline against Hungary, while Karim Benzema's brace matched up to a Ronaldo double in a 2-2 draw with Portugal.
It amounted to a mixed bag as France headed into the knockout stages. Another Benzema double and a Paul Pogba stunner saw them come from 2-0 down to lead Switzerland 3-2 in arguably the game of the tournament.
Haris Seferovic headed home to force extra time and it was Mbappe who erred as France lost 5-4 on spot kicks.
Switzerland defeated world champions France in Euro 2020 after Yann Sommer saved a Kylian Mbappé penalty 🧤 pic.twitter.com/xUSkcCh4VA
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 31, 2021
Mbappe's record in qualification is far more in line with what we've come to expect from the superstar forward. A hat-trick in the 14-0 thumping of Gibraltar saw him end Euro 2024 qualifying with nine goals to his name. In Euro qualifiers overall, he has 12 in 13 appearances.
International UEFA competitions also extend to the Nations League nowadays and Mbappe set up Benzema's equaliser before scoring the winner when France beat Spain 2-1 in the 2021 final.
Nevertheless, making a mark in the big one in terms of international European football is a wrong he was desperate to right in 2024.