Equaling Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid single-year goal record and securing the top scorer title for the year, Mbappé receives a double birthday gift

Written by Han Bing On the night of December 20th, Spain time, Real Madrid won 2-0 against Sevilla, sealing a three-match winning streak and concluding all their 2025 fixtures. The highlight was Mbappé’s 27th birthday, on which he received two gifts: a second-half penalty goal that equaled Cristiano Ronaldo’s single-year goal record at Real Madrid (59 goals). With 66 goals scored in 2025, he leads by 7 goals over Kane, who has played one fewer match, and by 9 goals over Haaland, making it almost certain he will be the top scorer of the year for the second time since 2022 (56 goals).

In this match, Bellingham broke the deadlock for Real Madrid in the 38th minute of the first half, and Mbappé secured the victory with a penalty in the 86th minute of the second half. After scoring, Mbappé celebrated with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature gesture, paying tribute to his idol. This goal marked Mbappé’s 59th for Real Madrid in 2025, tying Ronaldo’s club record for most goals in a single year (2013), a milestone of great significance for Mbappé. Although the record doesn’t come with an award, it will be forever etched in Real Madrid’s history.

This summer, Mbappé already earned two honors at Real Madrid: the 2024/25 La Liga Golden Boot and the European Golden Shoe (31 goals). However, this goal holds even greater importance, as chasing his idol Cristiano Ronaldo has been Mbappé’s childhood dream. After the match, Mbappé posted on his personal social media a photo mimicking Ronaldo’s celebration alongside a childhood picture with Ronaldo, captioned “Believe in your dreams, tribute to the king.”

Receiving such a memorable gift on his birthday night, Mbappé was extremely excited: “This is unbelievable, scoring like my idol, Real Madrid’s greatest player Cristiano Ronaldo, in my first year here. This is dedicated to him, and I want to express my gratitude. Today is my birthday, and I want to share this joy with him.”

Besides matching Ronaldo’s Real Madrid single-year goal record, Mbappé also set a personal annual scoring record. In 2025, he scored 59 goals in 59 matches for Real Madrid, a new club record for goals in a calendar year. Including 7 goals for the national team, Mbappé scored 66 goals in 66 games this year, leading Kane by 7 goals and Haaland by 9. Although both have one match left in 2025, surpassing Mbappé will be very difficult.

After 2022 (56 goals), Mbappé is once again set to be the world’s top scorer of the year. That year, he scored 56 goals in 56 matches (44 for PSG and 12 for France), also averaging one goal per game. Mbappé’s 66 goals in 2025 rank below Lewandowski’s 69 goals (2021), Ronaldo’s 69 goals (2013), and Messi’s nearly untouchable 91 goals (2012) in the IFFHS annual top scorer rankings, which have been awarded since 2011.

This goal brought Mbappé’s career tally to 411 goals, tying French legend Thierry Henry and trailing only France’s top scorer Benzema (509 goals). At his current scoring rate, Mbappé needs just three more seasons to become the new all-time French top scorer.

This season, Mbappé has delivered an astonishing 29 goals and 5 assists in 24 matches, leading both La Liga (18 goals in 18 matches) and the Champions League (9 goals in 5 matches) scoring charts, and ranks second in the European Golden Shoe standings (18 goals in 18 matches), just one goal behind Haaland. In November, Mbappé reached the milestone of 400 career goals, achieving this at 26 years and 328 days old—earlier than Messi (27 years and 95 days) and Ronaldo (28 years and 335 days).

Matching Ronaldo’s Real Madrid single-year goal record marks an important step for Mbappé in surpassing Ronaldo and establishing his own era.