By D. Crossan
Thursday is the day the world’s best teenager becomes the world’s best 20-year-old. The sensational Kylian Mbappé has already achieved so much for one so young and ligue1.com takes a look at his career highlights…
As a teenager the phenomenal Mbappé won Ligue 1 Conforama twice – first with Monaco and then with Paris Saint-Germain – as well as claiming the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France with PSG in 2018. Another great club achievement was reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League with Monaco, while 2018 will forever be the year that saw Mbappé scored in a FIFA World Cup final as France beat Croatia in the Moscow final.
Beating Henry’s records
The precocious Mbappé made his Ligue 1 Conforama debut at 16 years and 11 months, becoming the youngest player in the Principality club’s history when he came on for Fabio Coentrao against Caen on December 2 2015. Having eclipsed one Thierry Henry record, the starlet beat another on February 20 2016 when he scored in stoppage time against Troyes aged 17 and 62 days.
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After signing his first professional deal in March of that year, Mbappé helped France win the Euro Under-19s title that summer before a truly breakout campaign in 2016-2017. Mbappé’s incredible pace, preternatural composure and dynamism enabled Monaco to pip PSG to the league title with the forward ending up with 15 goals in 29 appearances. He also made a massive name for himself at European level, hitting his stride in the calendar year 2017 and finishing the Champions League campaign with a remarkable six goals in nine games.
PSG move… and more trophies
Already established as a French international, Mbappé moved to PSG, near his childhood home, in the summer of 2017, initially on loan. Forming a fearsome strike trio with Neymar and Edinson Cavani, Mbappé helped himself to 13 goals in the league. He ended the season with a domestic quadruple.
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The accolades and goals continued to flow at the FIFA World Cup as Mbappé netted four times in Russia, including in the final and was named the best young player in the competition. At the end of the year he won the inaugural Kopa trophy for the top young player at the Ballon d’Or awards and finished fourth in the main competition. Everybody expects Mbappé to go on and claim multiple Ballon d’Ors.
World Cup winner
Mbappé has started 2018-2019 in exceptional form, the joint-top scorer in Ligue 1 Conforama with 12 goals from only 11 appearances. In bleu, in October he became the first player to reach 10 international goals before his 20th birthday.
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The frightening thing is that Mbappé has so much room for improvement and the rest of his career promises to be full of excitement and glory: Happy Birthday Kylian!
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