There are dates that time turns into a frontier, and for Kylian Mbappé that is November 2. On that day, but in 2011, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal as a Real Madrid player at Lyon’s stadium, also in his third season in white and with Mourinho as coach. The Portuguese star did it in 105 matches, a precocity mark that he still shares with Haaland today as the absolute record, and that Mbappé now has within reach of breaking. The Frenchman has a little more than two months to storm that summit.
Since landing in the capital, Kylian has raced through goalscoring milestones at breakneck speed. In his first season, he scored 44 goals in the white shirt, 31 of them in La Liga, numbers that earned him the Golden Boot. Individual brilliance, however, was not reflected collectively. Madrid ended a disappointing campaign, with elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals and defeats in La Liga and in the Copa del Rey final against Barça. Even so, those figures take on greater significance when compared with the 33 goals Cristiano scored in his debut season in white, under similar circumstances.
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“The second spell got off to a rough start. With Xabi Alonso’s arrival on the bench, Kylian began his journey alongside the man from Tolosa hampered by a severe bout of gastroenteritis that kept him out of the plans for weeks, made him lose weight and delayed his return to full fitness at the Club World Cup. And yet, when he switched on for the real business, he did so like a whirlwind. He went on to score in eight consecutive matchdays and equaled Cristiano’s goal record in a calendar year, with 59 goals.
“But spring brought disenchantment with it. The team suffered a slump that, combined with the knee problems Kylian had been carrying since January, led to a new debacle, this time with Arbeloa already in charge. Even so, the Frenchman still produced an outstanding season in front of goal. 42 goals in the four competitions, though once again without lifting silverware and, on this occasion, without reclaiming the Golden Boot, although he secured his second consecutive Pichichi.
Mbappé now has 89 goals for Real Madrid in 105 matches, after the hat-trick he scored against Real Sociedad on matchday two of the league season. The figure invites an inevitable comparison, since Cristiano reached 100 precisely in those same 105 matches. The Frenchman, therefore, reaches the threshold with the number of appearances tied, but with his goal tally eleven goals short of the mark he is chasing.
12 tests for 100
The calendar gives him some leeway, though not much. Until that symbolic November 2, Kylian will have nine league matches and three Champions League group-stage fixtures ahead of him, twelve opportunities to bring down the 100-goal wall before anyone else in the club's history. Eleven goals in twelve matches is a towering demand, but not unattainable for a striker of his caliber.
And the magnitude of the challenge is better understood by looking back. Just a year ago, on September 16, 2025, Mbappé broke the 50-goal barrier after netting twice against Marseille in the Champions League. The fact that in twelve months he could be standing on the brink of a hundred shows the extent of his voracity. November 2 awaits as the finish line. It remains to be seen whether the Frenchman gets there in time to cross it with the record under his arm.
