Mbappe at 20: French starlet's greatest goals

Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe has bid farewell to his teenage years, having turning 20 on Thursday.

After a rapid rise at Monaco earned him a move to the Ligue 1 giants in 2017, this year has seen the talented forward take his game to even greater heights.

He tasted World Cup glory with France and won the FIFA Young Player award for his performances in Russia, while in December he claimed the inaugural Kopa Trophy.

In celebration of Mbappe's 20th birthday, we recall some of his greatest goals.

 

December 20, 2018

Montpellier 1 Monaco 2 - Ligue 1 - February 7, 2016

This strike away at Montpellier showed the raw pace and finishing ability that have become Mbappe's trademark.

Running at a frightening speed from wide on the left, he left veteran defender Hilton in his wake and, as Geoffrey Jourden advanced to close the angle, slipped a cheeky finish through the goalkeeper's legs.

Manchester City 5 Monaco 3 - Champions League - February 21, 2017

The goal that announced Mbappe on the European stage came in a Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

In his first start in the competition, the 18-year-old put his side 2-1 up five minutes before half-time with an emphatic effort. Catching a back-peddling City defence unaware, he rifled a superb, powerful effort high past Willy Caballero.

 

February 21, 2017

Borussia Dortmund 2 Monaco 3 - Champions League - April 12, 2017

After scoring twice against City in the last 16, Mbappe netted three times versus Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals and with his second strike in the away leg was the pick of the bunch.

Mbappe stole Lukasz Piszczek's pass ahead of Sokratis Papastathopoulos near the halfway line and raced clear, curling a delightful finish past Roman Burki's despairing drive from 20 yards.

 

December 10, 2018

Monaco 2 Saint-Etienne 0 - Ligue 1 - May 17, 2017

This was Mbappe's final goal for Monaco and quite the way to sign off as his side won the title.

He ran in behind the Saint-Etienne defence, latching onto Radamel Falcao's pass before shaping to shoot with his right foot. Mbappe instead sat goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier down and coolly finished into an open goal with his left.

France 4 Monaco 2 – World Cup – July 15, 2018

It does not come bigger than a goal in the World Cup final.

There did not appear to be much on for Mbappe when he received the ball from Lucas Hernandez in a central position 25 yards from goal, but Domagoj Vida failed to close him down. He used that space to hammer a low drive beyond a stunned Danijel Subasic and into the bottom-left corner, helping France to their second World Cup title.

 

July 15, 2018

Guingamp 1 PSG 3 – Ligue 1 – August 18, 2018

Mbappe hit the ground running upon his return to PSG.

In his first league outing of the 2018-19 season his late double lifted PSG to victory at Guingamp, and his second was a thing of beauty. A great first touch from Neymar's pass took centre-back Christophe Kerbrat out of the equation and drew goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson off his line, with the confident forward punishing him with a sublime 90th-minute dink over the onrushing Swede.

Nimes 2 PSG 4 - Ligue 1 - September 1, 2018

A mixed outing for Mbappe ended with him picking up a petulant red card, but his game-breaking goal 13 minutes from time was magnificent.

He produced an immaculate touch to bring down Presnel Kimpembe's raking pass, let the ball bounce once and then clattered into the roof of the net from 15 yards.