Kylian Mbappé equals Just Fontaine’s record of 53 goals in a season

Kylian Mbappé (24) further etched his name into French football history on Friday night. The France skipper coolly scored a penalty during Les Bleus’ mediocre 3-0 away win against Gibraltar as part of their campaign to qualify for Euro 2024, notching his 39th overall for the national team.

In doing so, Mbappé has equalled the late Just Fontaine’s record of goals scored in a single season by a Frenchman. The PSG free-scoring forward is now tied with the Stade de Reims legend with 53 goals. Fontaine established the record in 1958, the year he took the World Cup by storm in scoring 13 goals in the tournament – an achievement yet to be equalled 65 years later.

Like Fontaine, Mbappé was last year’s World Cup leading goalscorer, with eight goals to his name. In total, the Paris-born 24-year-old scored twelve goals with Les Bleus this season. With Les Parisiens, he topped Ligue 1’s goalscoring leaderboard with 29 strikes. He found the back of the net a further twelve times in the Champions League and in the Coupe de France combined. Should Mbappé score against Greece on Monday at the Stade de France, he will become France’s best-ever overall goalscorer in a single season.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval