Kylian Mbappe has recently surpassed Pele with the highest number of goals in the World Cup below the age of 24. He has scored a grand total of eight goals. He still has to beat Pele’s record as the latter has scored 12 goals during his World Cup participations
Mbappe managed to break the 60-year-old record. Recently, Mbappe assisted Olivier Giroud, making him the top goalscorer in France national team history. Giroud scored his 52nd goal, surpassing the legendary Thierry Henry.
While Mbappe struggled for the majority of the day, he managed to convert two excellent finishes on either side of the top corner. He now has the same number of FIFA World Cup goals as Lionel Messi, but he has played in three fewer World Cups.
However, the unfortunate news of the Brazilian legend’s declining health is saddening news. His contribution to football will never be forgotten, and hopefully the younger players such as Mbappe, Haaland and others would remember their previous generations of great players.
Fan’s thoughts Mbappe surpassing one of Pele’s records
Kylian Mbappe passes Pele for most World Cup goals scored by a men's player before turning 24 years old (8) 😮👏 pic.twitter.com/uJLZDH6LWO
Fans are claiming that Mbappe will break all records in the next World Cup. Others stated that a lot of the countries aren’t playing as well as they did back in the day, hence, it would give the younger players more opportunity to break records.
There were criticisms over the record as a fan stated “Why 24, why not 23,22,25 etc? It’s almost as if the parameters for this stat were intended to give a favourable comparison to Mbappe over Pele.”
Other fans agreed with this fan as the age number appears to be a random one and it is not often a comparable age as usually it would be U21 (Under 21) or U18 (Under 18). Statements on Mbappe idolising Ronaldo and being inspired by him were in the mix of the conversation.
The best irony in the conversation was that Ronaldo and Messi fans vehemently hate each other in the comment section. It is unclear why in all football related news, there will always be this exact argument against the two great legends.
Furthermore, Pele fans stated that in his early 20s, where he was playing his second World Cup, he was injured. Hence this would give other players the opportunity to beat his still impressive records.
Football fan pages are going ablaze as the new star on the block, Kylian Mbappe has scored more goals than the previous top French footballer in the World Cup. Keep in mind that Mbappe is only 23-years-old.
Currently, the Qatar World Cup is Mbappe’s second World Cup. Thierry Henry has participated in four World Cups from 1997 till 2010. There is a lot of buzz about this, some are pro Mbappe and some not entirely.
Now especially that France beat Morocco in the semi-finals for the World Cup, he has a strong chance in helping his home country win this year’s World Cup.
Fans argument about Mbappe vs Henry
According to a Facebook post in a prominent football group, a fan posted that Mbappe has done the near impossible in scoring more than a veteran who had more chances to do as such. Some sources say Mbappe had scored seven, or nine goals.
Fans stated that the quality football is not the same as when Henry was a star. Many do agree that Mbappe is an amazing scorer, but the competition today is not as tough as it was many years ago.
Others stated that they aren’t obsessed about which players score the most goals but the fact that they care about which country is the best. Some naysayers claimed that scoring is just an opportunity, not the actual skills needed on the field.
Furthermore, a tweet stating that he is taking a much shorter time to reach his 250 career goals when compared to Ronaldo and Messi. Some are even claiming that he is the next greatest of all time.
Naysayers are claiming that he has an advantage of being quick on the field. Contributing to the speed he has is his younger age. However, fans defended Mbappe stating that he needs other skills as well in order to score goals, such as precision, and the ability to target well.
However, fans attributed his playing in the French league in helping score his 250th goal sooner than others. Some claimed that he should start playing for the Premier League or the LaLiga in order to get some real competition.
Talks on how unfair it is to the midfielders, defenders and keepers as even though they contribute to the goal scored, they are rarely mentioned in the statistics.
THE nice gestures of celebrity players towards their contemporaries or the fans are seldom highlighted by the media.
Here I must note and congratulate Frenchman Kylian Mbappe who recently apologised after hitting a fan with a wayward shot during the warm-up of the World Cup semi-final between France and Morocco.
During the warm-up for the match, the PSG player missed the target with one of his shots and the ball flew into the stands. Unfortunately, it found the face of a France supporter sitting in one of the front rows and the man looked to be in some pain after being hit by it.
FAN SURPRISED
Mbappe noticed this and quickly climbed the advertising hoardings to check up on him himself, patting him on the arm.
Remaining dazed, the fan didn’t initially realise who it was that was doing so as he received help from those sat next to him. Once he realised and looked at Mbappe, the forward apologised again before returning to the pitch.
The 23-year-old would have no doubt cheered the man up by making both France goals possible in the Morocco win, and will do so even more if he can lead his country to Sunday’s second World Cup triumph in a row.
To do that, he’ll have the get the better of Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Lionel Messi who is looking to win the tournament for the first time in his career. With it being his last chance to do so, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
BEST PLAYERS
Mbappé is considered one of the best players in the world, renowned for his dribbling abilities, exceptional speed and finishing.
To track his record, he was born in Paris and raised in nearby Bondy, Mbappé began his senior club career in 2015 playing for Monaco, where he won the Ligue 1 title. In 2017, aged 18, he signed for Paris Saint-Germain on an eventual permanent transfer worth €180 million, making him the second-most-expensive player and most expensive teenage player.
At international level, Mbappé made his senior debut for France in 2017, at age 18. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he became the youngest French player to score at a World Cup, and became the second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup Final.
The FIFA World Cup has been around for 92 years and has constantly been in the centre of attention. This is due to the fact that football is a major sporting event celebrated by billions of fans worldwide. Yes, the World Cup is no stranger to controversies, but it is still an event that unites all football players around the world.
There are numerous disputes on who scored the best, or the most goals in FIFA’s long history. It has been said that over 2,000 goals have been scored in the 21 editions of the final matches in the World Cup, and the first person to ever score a World Cup goal was a Frenchman named Lucien Laurent.
Furthermore, in the top five best scorers, there isn’t an active footballer in the list. Maybe after this year’s World Cup, we might see either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi step up in the list, to leave their mark as our generation’s greatest players.
The list was created by 90 minutes, and the players in the top five will not shock you but instead bring you back to a sense of nostalgia.
Number 5: Pele
Image of Pele in 1981, from Wikipedia.
The Brazilian national has scored 12 goals in the World Cup, it might not be seen as plenty but it is considerably a lot, especially due to the amount of matches and the four year gaps in between. He participated in 14 games.
Pele started his career in football with Santos at the age of 15-years-old then, represented Brazil at the tender age of 16, and has won three FIFA World Cups, 1958, 1962 and 1970. For a Black man from that era, he was definitely revolutionary and created shockwaves all over the world with his impressive skills.
Furthermore, he was hailed as a national hero in Brazil. He lifted his country’s name for the world to recognise. At 82-years-old, the record breaking man is still alive and strong.
Number 4: Just Fontaine
Image of Just Fontaine in 1958, from Wikipedia.
Frenchmen are always stars in the World Cup and Fontaine is no exception. The Frenchman scored 13 goals in one World Cup. He participated in six games and set the record all the way back in 1958.
Fontaine, born in Morocco to a French father and a Spanish mother, started his career at USM Casablanca in 1950. He must have been 17-years-old at the time. He debuted for France in 1953 and scored a hat-trick against Luxembourg.
Similar to Pele, Fontaine is still strong and kicking at the age of 89-years-old. Furthermore, he was named by Pele to be one of the greatest footballers of all time.
Number 3: Gerd Muller
Image of Gerd Muller in 1973, image from Wikipedia.
The German player, Gerd Muller has participated in 13 games and has scored 14 times. He began his football career with TSV 1861 Nördlingen and later on he would join Bayern Munich when he was 18-years-old in 1964.
Furthermore, he had the record for the most scores in the Bundesliga games for their 1971-1972 season. That record was only beaten recently by Lewandowski just last season with just one more score.
Unfortunately, the World Cup legend passed away at the age of 75-years-old in 2021. He was plagued with Alzheimer disease.
Number 2: Ronaldo
Image of Ronaldo in 2002, from Wikipedia.
Not to be confused with the Portuguese G.O.A.T Cristiano Ronaldo, this is the Brazilian Ronaldo. He has scored 15 goals in 19 games. He moved to PSV in 1994 at the young age of 18-years-old and was hailed as a young superstar.
He won the Copa America in 1997 and won the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Furthermore, he is now the owner of Real Valladolid. It is rare to see a former footballer owning clubs after they have stopped playing.
He is still alive and well now at only 46-years-old, one of the younger ones on the list. Who knows what football related business he might venture in next.
Number 1: Miroslav Klose
Image of Miroslav Klose in 2006, from Wikipedia.
For the number one spot, the German Miroslav Klose hits the spot. He has participated in 24 games and scored 16 goals in all of his FIFA World Cup participations. He took home the golden boot in 2006.
Klose started his career with FC Homburg at 20-years-old. He later joined Bayern Munich, similar to Gerd Muller. He retired from the German national team after the 2014 World Cup.
He is currently the youngest player on the list at only 44-years-old.
There is some anticipation of our current top players climbing in the World Cup. It would be interesting to see decades from now on the number of scores that Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland would have under their belts.
PRIOR to Sunday’s World Cup Finals, it is appropriate that it’s a two-player show to who will win the ‘Golden Boot’.
France’s Kylian Mbappe and Argentina’s Lionel Messi lead the way in the race as both celebrities have scored five goals so far in Qatar and have one more chance to improve their tallies.
However, Mbappe’s team-mate Olivier Giroud and Messi’s compatriot Julian Alvarez are just one goal behind in the race to finish the tournament as top goalscorer, too, and collect one of football’s most coveted individual prizes.
There is a pack of seven players on three goals, but none of them are still in the tournament after the quarter-finals so they won’t have a chance to add to their tally. So it will be a straight shootout between the players from the final.
You may well ask, what’s the ‘Golden Boot’.
It is the award given to the top goal-scorer at each edition of the World Cup. If at the conclusion of the tournament two or more players are tied at the top of the list with the same number of goals, the award will go to the player with the most non-penalty goals, and if they are still tied, it will go to the player with the most assists.
For the fastest goal in Qatar, Alphonso Davies has been the most alert after the ref’s whistle, scoring after just one minute and eight seconds in Canada’s 4-1 defeat to Croatia.
The next fastest goal comes over two minutes later, a Hakim Ziyech 35-yard chip for Morocco against Canada on three minutes 31 seconds, while Theo Hernandez was also quick off the mark in France’s semi-final against Morocco, scoring within five minutes.
For the most clean sheets, Morocco lead the way here with four clean sheets but having now been knocked out by France, the dark horses could be matched in their achievements by Argentina, should Messi’s team keep a clean sheet in the final.
Other yellow and/or red cards records, South Korea’s Paulo Bento became the first coach ever shown a red card at a World Cup match, during his team’s clash with Uruguay.
Let’s focus on the ‘Golden Boot’ and keep fingers crossed, it goes to a worthy winner.
* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.
The sad passing of Pele has brought up the thought of the two legends in football and their respective achievements. Back then, there could only be one legend at a time, this is a stark contrast to today’s football where we have Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and even David Beckham.
It also needs reminding that Maradona has also sadly passed in the year 2020, at the age of 60-years-old. An era has gone with the passing of these two legends as a number of people grew up looking to them as inspiration to get through the day.
Diego Maradona and Pelé are widely considered two of the greatest soccer players of all time. Both players had successful careers and made significant contributions to the sport.
One key difference between the two players is the time period in which they played.
Pelé played in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, while Maradona played in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. This means that they played in different eras and against different levels of competition.
Their playing style is another key difference between the two legends. Maradona was renowned for his inventiveness and dribbling prowess, but Pelé was known for his technical proficiency and ability to score goals. Pelé was renowned for his sportsmanship and humility, whilst Maradona was known for his tenacity and leadership on the pitch.
Regardless of their differences in era and playing styles, they both have individual separate fan bases that would still hype them up until today.
How many goals has Pele and Maradona scored
(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 8, 1990 Argentinian forward Diego Maradona (C) juggles with the ball as he runs past Cameroon’s Benjamin Massing during the World Cup opening football match between Cameroon and Argentina in Milan. (Photo by DANIEL GARCIA / AFP)
Pelé is widely considered one of the greatest goalscorers in soccer history. During his career, he scored a total of 1279 goals in 1363 games. This includes goals scored in official matches and friendlies.
We have yet to see today’s players to beat that score, depending on the measurements and the different data that are available. However, the closest are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Some are suggesting that Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland might come around to the scores of these legends soon.
Maradona also had a successful career and scored a significant number of goals. However, it is difficult to determine an exact number because records of his goals are not complete. According to some sources, Maradona scored a total of 259 goals in club and international matches. However, this number may not include all of his goals, as records from some of his early matches are not available.
It is important to note that the number of goals scored by a player does not necessarily reflect their overall ability or impact on the sport. Both Pelé and Maradona made significant contributions to soccer beyond just their goalscoring record.
The trophies that they won
During Pele’s career, he won numerous trophies and awards, including three FIFA World Cups with the Brazilian national team. At the club level, Pelé won numerous domestic league titles and cups with Santos FC in Brazil.
Maradona also had a successful career and won numerous trophies. With the Argentine national team, he won the FIFA World Cup in 1986, and he also won numerous domestic league titles and cups with clubs in Argentina, Italy, and Spain.
Image of Diego Maradona in 1986, from Wikipedia.
It is important to note that the number of trophies a player has won does not necessarily reflect their overall ability or impact on the sport. Both Pelé and Maradona made significant contributions to soccer beyond their trophy collection.
Were there any rivalries between pele and maradona?
There is some evidence to suggest that Pelé and Maradona had a personal rivalry. For the most part, the two players have spoken highly of each other in the past and have expressed respect for each other’s abilities in a professional manner.
There were numerous times where they might have said certain things in the media about one and another.
Image of Pele in 1968, from Wikipedia.
According to Reuters, one of them was Pele calling Maradona a “bad example” due to his drug addiction back in the day. Another one where Maradona stated about Pele, “As a player he was great… but he thinks politically.”
To sum up, Pele thought Maradona as vulgar and undignified and Maradona thought Pele was a sell-out.
Pelé and Maradona played in different eras, so they did not have the opportunity to face each other in official matches. However, they were both influential figures in the sport of soccer and are often compared to each other due to their status as two of the greatest players in history.
