‘I think I meet the criteria’

It has a been a successful post-season international window for France – a 3-0 win over Gibraltar on Friday and Monday’s 1-0 win over Greece have Les Bleus top of qualifying Group B with a perfect record of four wins from as many matches – and for Kylian Mbappé who, despite the furore surrounding his contractual situation at Paris Saint-Germain, is now the holder of a brand-new record.

Legendary

Indeed, by striking from the spot (at the second time of asking) to clinch the 1-0 win over Greece, the Boy from Bondy took his goal tally for the season 2022-23 to 54 for club and country, eclipsing the legendary Just Fontaine’s record for goals by a Frenchman in a single season.

Add this to the 24-year-old’s having topped the Ligue 1 Uber Eats scoring charts for a fifth season in a row, after helping PSG to a record 11th Ligue 1 Uber Eats title and firing an unforgettable hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final to end the tournament with the Golden Boot, and the Ballon d’Or starts begging to enter the conversation.

And, despite the fact that a certain Lionel Messi’s Long-awaited World Cup win has La Pulga a strong chance for an eighth career Ballon d’Or, Mbappé isn’t ruling anything out.

Ballon d’Or?

“It’s difficult to talk about an individual trophy, because you have to put yourself forward and that’s not very popular with the general public,” said Mbappé after the win over Greece. “What are the new criteria? Is it to burn the retina and make an impact? I think I meet the criteria. We’ll see. It’s the people who vote, but I’m still optimistic.”

Meanwhile Les Bleus remain perfect (four wins and as many clean sheets from four Euro 2024 qualifying outings) with Mbappé as captain – he was handed the arm-band by coach Didier Deschamps after Hugo Loris retired in the wake of the World Cup – and the young star is loving the responsibility.

‘Screw up as little as possible’

“I’m learning every day. It’s something that enriches my experience and my career, having this responsibility allows me to open up a little more every day. I try to do my best to make people proud of me,” said Mbappé. “It’s only natural, because we’ve got an exceptional squad, and they’ve put me in the right frame of mind to make sure I screw up as little as possible. We’ve got a group that’s hungry to win.”

Les Bleus‘ next appointment is their Euro 2024 qualifying Matchday 5 clash against Ireland at the Parc des Princes… but will it still be Mbappé’s home stadium at that point?  Watch this space…