Kylian Mbappé: the Clásico winner at the top of the world list
Kylian Mbappé has 11 La Liga goals for Real Madrid and just won a Clásico with two goals. Here is why he heads our top 10 and what he does that nobody else can.
Kylian Mbappé is the safest pick for the top spot on this list because he has fame and form at the same time. That is rarer than it sounds.
His weekend of 25 October explains it. According to Flashscore, he scored twice in Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Barcelona in the 265th Clásico: one around the 41st minute, one three minutes from the end. The first came off a deflection, so it was lucky. The second was a tap-in. Both were the kind of goal strikers get by being in the right place more often than other people.
The numbers
ESPN's nightly table has Mbappé on 11 La Liga goals and 2 assists from 10 matches. Only Barcelona's Raphinha, with 13, has more. Real Madrid are third on ESPN's table, on 24 points: three behind Barcelona and four behind leaders Atlético Madrid. His goals are keeping a chase alive rather than padding a lead.
He is also the Ballon d'Or runner-up. Harry Kane won the 2026 award on 26 October, with Mbappé second and Lamine Yamal third, according to NBC Sports and Wikipedia's results table. His reach is huge too: IBTimes had him on 130 million Instagram followers in February, the fourth highest among footballers on its list.
What nobody else does
Plenty of forwards are quick. Few stay composed when they arrive at full speed. Mbappé attacks the space behind a defence, gets there before the cover does and still finishes with a calm touch. That is why one pass can be enough to turn a quiet half into a goal.
The two assists suggest he is a finisher first. If Madrid need a creator in the final third, someone else has to do it.
What's next
Madrid are chasing Atlético and Barcelona, who lost for the first time this season at the Bernabéu, and Mbappé is the man most likely to close the gap.
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