Right now, Kylian Mbappé sits at the top of the 2026 Ballon d’Or conversation. A French newspaper poll puts him first, ahead of every other star in world football. The ceremony in London is only days away. ⚽
But the road from Bondy to Ballon d’Or front-runner took a decade of record-breaking. This is his then and now.
Then: The Boy from Bondy
Kylian Mbappé Lottin was born on 20 December 1998 in Paris and raised in Bondy, a suburb north-east of the capital. Football ran in the family. His father Wilfried coached at local club AS Bondy, where Kylian first kicked a ball.
He joined Monaco’s academy at 14. By December 2015, aged just 16, he made his senior debut — the youngest first-team player in Monaco’s history. The record had belonged to Thierry Henry.
The 2016–17 season made him a star. Mbappé scored 26 goals in 44 matches, fired Monaco to the Ligue 1 title — their first in 17 years — and helped them reach the Champions League semi-finals. Europe’s biggest clubs were suddenly watching a teenager.
In 2017, aged 18, he joined Paris Saint-Germain, first on loan and then permanently for a reported €180 million. It made him the most expensive teenager in football history, and the second-most-expensive player ever.
Then came the World Cup. At Russia 2018, Mbappé scored four goals, including one in the final against Croatia, as France lifted the trophy. He was named the tournament’s Best Young Player. He was 19.
The Middle: Paris Belongs to Him
Back in Paris, the goals kept coming. Mbappé became PSG’s all-time top scorer with 256 goals. He won six Ligue 1 titles and finished as the league’s top scorer a record six times.
Yet the Champions League trophy never arrived. PSG reached the final in 2020 but lost, and the biggest prize in club football stayed just out of reach. The feeling grew that his story needed a new stage.
Now: Madrid and the Ballon d’Or
In the summer of 2024, Mbappé joined Real Madrid on a free transfer — the move football had expected for years. His debut season delivered silverware: the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Individually, it was spectacular. He won the European Golden Shoe in 2025, finished as La Liga’s top scorer in 2025 and again in 2026, and was the Champions League’s top scorer in 2026. At Madrid, he now leads an attack that also includes young Brazilian forward Endrick. 👑
He remains France’s captain too. At the 2026 World Cup, he led Les Bleus into the tournament — the same stage where he had announced himself eight years earlier.
October 2026 brought a scare. During France’s 1–0 win over Türkiye, Mbappé suffered a hyperextension of his left knee shortly after scoring the winner. He returned to Madrid to recover and was back in action days later, starting against Villarreal on 10 October.
Now the Ballon d’Or looms. A L’Équipe poll puts Mbappé first with 34.2% of the vote, ahead of Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and England captain Harry Kane. Meanwhile, Lamine Yamal, who had led earlier conversations about the award, has dropped outside the top three.
From the kid who broke Thierry Henry’s record at Monaco to the man leading the Ballon d’Or race — Mbappé’s then and now is the story of a prodigy who simply never stopped scoring. The only question left is whether the golden ball finally follows. 🏆