Another bumper year for Kylian Mbappe, with 52 goals across all competitions
French player nominated for The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023
FIFA looks back at his last 12 months for club and country
Kylian Mbappe had very good reason to sink to his knees at the end of an unforgettable FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ final against Argentina. The scorer of a hat-trick that December night - just the second player to manage that in the decider after Geoff Hurst in 1966 - he looked on as Lionel Messi and Co stepped up to collect the trophy after winning 4-2 on penalties following an astonishing 3-3 draw after extra time. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it,” the shattered striker later admitted to the press.

Where others might have struggled to maintain those levels following such a seismic disappointment, the French wizard saw that shattering setback as a fresh starting point. To everyone’s amazement, Mbappe was back in training with Paris Saint-Germain within three days of shedding tears at Lusail Stadium. And just seven days later, he was back to his scoring ways again in Ligue 1, preparing the ground for a stellar 2023 in which he was the second-highest scorer in world football with 52 goals, just two fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo.

A man on a mission after his Qatari heartbreak, Mbappe has his sights firmly set on another World Cup winner’s medal in 2026, having collected his first in some style in 2018. As first steps in such ventures go, 2023 was quite spectacular, as the 25-year-old goal-getter from the Parisian suburb of Bondy showed that he is made from different stuff compared to most players.

The front man enjoyed a typically outstanding year on the club scene, firing Paris Saint-Germain to yet another Ligue 1 title – the sixth of his career – and breaking a number of prestigious records along the way. In chalking up his 201st goal for the club in the 4-2 defeat of Nantes on 4 March 2023 to become the highest scorer in PSG's history.

Then, in scoring his 54th goal of the 2022/23 campaign from the penalty spot in a 3-2 defeat to Clermont, he overhauled the great Just Fontaine as the highest scorer in a single Ligue 1 season, beating the late striker’s 1957/58 tally of 53.

The undisputed king of the French domestic scene, Mbappe faced further UEFA Champions League disappointment, however, as he and Qatar 2022 winner Lionel Messi were powerless to prevent PSG from going down 2-1 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the last 16. Though an unwanted setback, it did not stop the irrepressible striker from excelling elsewhere.

Mbappe took on an even more prominent role for his country during the course of the year. With Hugo Lloris having retired from international football, coach Didier Deschamps handed the striker the captain’s armband, which he pulled on with relish for the first time on 24 March 2023.

It was a day on which Mbappe and his France team-mates began their UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying campaign in the best possible style, thrashing Qatar 2022 quarter-finalists the Netherlands 4-0. “Things worked out for us today, but it’s only a start,” the new Les Bleus skipper, who scored two that night, told French TV station TF1. “We mustn’t get carried away because the hardest part is yet to come." "As the captain, it’s his responsibility to connect with the whole group,” said a delighted Deschamps in the post-match press conference. “It’s not a burden for him. It’s something that comes naturally.”

In a class of his own at international level, the youngest two-time World Cup finalist in the history of the game added ten more goals to his Les Bleus account, his best national-team haul yet in a non-World Cup or Euros year.

In the land where Zinedine Zidane was once the king, there can be no doubt that Mbappe will soon be out on his own as France’s leading all-time scorer. Following a productive 2023, he now stands third on the list with 46 goals, with only the legendary Thierry Henry and evergreen team-mate Olivier Giroud ahead of him, on 51 and 56 respectively. By the time 2025 is over, perhaps even sooner, the insatiable Mbappe may be in a league of his own.

His first battle of the 2024 will be played out in London on 15 January, when he will look to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player award for the first time. Second behind Messi a year ago, he is once again up against the formidable Argentinian, with Erling Haaland, a Champions League winner with Manchester City, the other man in contention.