Kylian Mbappé is the best player in the world right now.
Yet, he is still underrated.
No one doubts that he is elite. But underrated does not mean people think a player is poor. It means they stop short of fully capturing the scale of what they are watching.
You hear commentators call Mbappé “a threat” or “a great player” and it almost feels like an understatement. Those are compliments, but they undersell the reality. Mbappé is not just great. He is operating at a level of greatness that no one else in the modern game is matching.
When you watch him closely, it becomes clear how far ahead he is. There is no player today who truly touches his level. Erling Haaland is the obvious comparison, but his game is far more limited. Haaland is an extraordinary goalscorer. Mbappé can dominate games in every possible way.
The Frenchman finished 2025 with 66 goals for club and country across the calendar year. For context, Cristiano Ronaldo’s highest calendar tally was 69 goals in 2013.
So why does Mbappé still feel slightly underrated? Much of it comes down to the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or. Over the last five years, he has been the best player in the world with remarkable consistency. But without a Champions League title and without that Ballon d’Or validation, the recognition has never fully caught up.
If he wins the Champions League with Real Madrid and or lifts a second World Cup, the Ballon d’Or will follow. That is when the narrative will shift.
Kylian Mbappé is already knocking on the door of the top ten players of all time. It is time we start treating him that way.
