2025/26 was quite the season for Kylian Mbappe, climaxing in a 2026 Ballon d’Or nomination.

In his second year in Madrid the Parisien embarked on a sustained goal-scoring spree for Los Blancos, both domestically and in continental competition.

For Les Bleus meanwhile, having recently been installed as his national side’s captain, Mbappe fired five goals in four World Cup qualifiers, paving the way for what was to come.

There was additionally an impressive strike against Brazil in a spring friendly.

It was his enduring prolificacy for Real though that had more prominence, the forward revelling in a tweaked system that allowed him to forage more central.

Scoring in ten of his first 11 league outings, Mbappe already had one hand on the Pichichi trophy by early November and not even a knee problem post-Christmas could derail his momentum.

It was a similar tale in the Champions League too, with 15 goals converted in 11 appearances. This included a hat-trick to down Kairat Almaty and four struck away at Olympiacos.

Come the season’s end, Mbappe finished as leading goalscorer in both La Liga and the Champions League before topping his peers also at the World Cup, becoming the first player to reach double figures in the tournament since Gerd Muller in 1970.

It was a clean sweep of goalscoring garlands, in the league, European competition, and the World Cup that has only been managed once before, by the great Eusebio.

It is therefore reasonable to assume that trophies followed as a natural consequence. Sadly, cruelly even, that proved not to be the case.

La Liga

Swapping managers at the halfway point, Real Madrid trailed to Barcelona for the entire duration of the season, ultimately finishing eight points adrift of their fierce rivals.

For his part, Mbappe could not have done more, scoring every 104.2 minutes in the famous white jersey, his tally of 25 strikes including a crucial opener against Barcelona in the autumn El Clasico.

Claiming the Pichichi Trophy for the second consecutive season, only Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi came close to threatening him, finishing two goals shy.

Champions League

Both of Real’s quarter-final ties with Bayern Munich engrossed, ending 2-1 and 4-3, each time in the German’s favour.

Despite finishing on the losing side at the Bernabeu and the Allianz Arena, Mbappe scored in both fixtures.

These goals ensured that he pipped Harry Kane to the Champions League goal-scoring crown, and his eventual total of 15 strikes demands due acknowledgment.

Only two players in the competition’s history have scored more across a single campaign.

World Cup

For a good while this summer, it felt like France’s formidable attacking arsenal could see them reclaim their status as world champions. No team scored more goals in the group stage, with Mbappe firing four of Les Bleus’ ten.

The 27-year-old followed that up with two against Sweden in the Round of 16 – his third brace in four – before converting a crucial penalty to overcome a stubborn Paraguay.

He opened proceedings too versus Morocco in what proved to be a surprisingly one-sided affair.

It was Spain who eventually nullified the striker, in a tense semi-final that saw France depart the tournament two steps from glory.

Not before facing England in a third-place play-off that produced multiple goals, Mbappe helping himself to another two that put him out of reach of Lionel Messi.