Kylian Mbappé

Kylian Mbappé is a forward for Real Madrid and France, born in Bondy in the northern Paris suburbs and coached as a child by his father at the local club. Monaco gave him his first-team debut at sixteen; Paris Saint-Germain signed him in 2017 in a deal that made him the most expensive teenager in the sport's history, and he finally joined Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2024 after one of the longest-running sagas in football.

His defining quality is acceleration into space, which is why he is most dangerous starting from the left and running at a defence rather than playing with his back to goal.

He won the World Cup with France in 2018 as a teenager and scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final, the only one in a World Cup final since 1966, though France lost on penalties. His side were beaten by the eventual champions Spain in the 2026 semi-final.

‍