Could Kylian Mbappe one day break Lionel Messi’s most insane European goalscoring record?

Lionel Messi proudly stands atop the all-time goalscoring charts across Europe’s five major leagues (La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and Premier League) – but could Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe one day sit on that throne?

Messi left European football in the summer of 2021 with an outrageous tally of 496 goals in La Liga and Ligue 1 – just one more than his era-defining rival Cristiano Ronaldo managed in Europe’s top leagues.

Funnily enough, Messi’s 496th and final goal in European football, the one that inched him ahead of Ronaldo – in a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg in May 2023 – was actually assisted by Mbappe.

Mbappe has scored over 200 goals in Ligue 1 and La Liga, but where does he stand in Europe’s all-time top goalscorers? And could he one day surpass Messi and Ronaldo to move top?

Where Messi & Ronaldo stood at the same age

Mbappe will turn 27 shortly before Christmas. Traditionally, that’s when you’ve considered a footballer at their absolute physical peak.

Messi and Ronaldo were certainly notching absolutely head-spinning numbers at that stage of their careers, but they bucked the trend by remaining remarkably prolific well into their thirties.

For Ronaldo in particular, his goalscoring numbers actually peaked in his thirties.

Messi’s numbers are actually pretty similar to Mbappe’s.

He’d scored 242 goals in 272 La Liga appearances for Barcelona when he was a couple of month shy of his 27th birthday back in May 2014 – that’s only nine more than Mbappe at the same age.

Ronaldo’s numbers, by contrast, were a bit lower. He’d scored 170 goals in 276 appearances in the Premier League and La Liga if you take a look back to a couple of months prior to his 27th birthday in February 2012.

Who Mbappe will overtake next

Mbappe’s 233 goals in Ligue 1 and La Liga see him sit just outside the top 10 goalscorers across Europe’s five major leagues in the 21st century.

He’s recently moved ahead of (the under-rated?) Edin Dzeko in the all-time top goalscorers list and will surely overtake Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gonzalo Higuain and Luis Suarez to move ninth in said list this season.

After that, Sergio Aguero (260 goals), Edinson Cavani (267) and Karim Benzema (281) will surely be in Mbappe’s sights in the coming years. He might even catch Aguero and Cavani this season if his numbers go truly stratospheric, as he’s threatening.

Then we’re into the realms of the all-timers. *talkSPORT pundit voice*: Yer Dixie Deans, Yer Jimmy Grieveses, Yer Gerd Mullers.

READ: The top 10 goalscorers in the history of Europe’s top five leagues

Will he surpass Messi by the time he retires?

Given his goalscoring numbers are similar to Messi’s at the same age, you’d have to say it’s possible.

Last season Mbappe lifted his first European Golden Shoe after notching 31 goals in La Liga, while he’s on track to comfortably beat that this season.

He’s contracted at the Bernabeu until 2029 and there’s no reason to doubt he can enjoy these prime years notching regular 30+ goal seasons in the Spanish top flight as Messi and Ronaldo did when they were at the peak of their powers.

But there’s a very long way to go. Mbappe still needs to score 264 goals in major European leagues to one day overtake Messi at the top of the all-time charts. He’s not even halfway there.

That’s another 10 years of scoring 25+ goals.

And it’s assuming he stays injury-free. The explosive pace and dynamism to Mbappe’s game that recalls prime Ronaldo Nazario and even a young Michael Owen, who both notably slowed down – literally and numerically – after suffering serious injuries that impacted that key facet to their game.

All in all, it’s certainly possible that Mbappe one day breaks Messi’s record. But it would require him to continue playing in Europe deep into his thirties and maintain his ludicrous goalscoring exploits for a long time to come.

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