Kylian Mbappé just did something only one man has done before him. His penalty in the 1–1 draw at Girona pushed him to 60 goals in the 2025 calendar year—53 of them for Real Madrid. The only other player to hit 53+ goals for the club in a single year? Cristiano Ronaldo.
The number Mbappé is chasing: 59. That’s how many Ronaldo scored for Real Madrid in 2013, spread across La Liga, the Champions League, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup.
Mbappé needs 7 more in his final six club matches before Christmas to break it. Ridiculous. But also? Weirdly believable given the year he’s having.
What the record actually means
Ronaldo’s 59 came in 50 competitive games for the club and powered a total of 69 goals for club and country that year. Mbappé’s 60 goals in 2025 break down to 53 for Real Madrid and 7 for France—which already places him in an exclusive club where Ronaldo is the only other member.
The math is simple. Seven more Real goals in six matches gives Mbappé 60 and the outright record. Six draws him level. Anything less and Ronaldo stays on top.
He’s already bent Madrid’s history in his direction
Before this record came into view, Mbappé had already made his mark.
His debut season? 31 league goals (La Liga’s top scorer), 44 in all competitions for Real Madrid—both records for a Madrid debut campaign. He collected the European Golden Shoe and was named the club’s player of the season.
That momentum carried into 2025. Hat-trick against Manchester City in February. Another treble in El Clásico against Barcelona in May. He’s become the attacking centerpiece of post-Benzema Madrid.
Then came late November. Four goals away to Olympiacos, including one of the fastest hat-tricks in Champions League history. Then the penalty at Girona that nudged him to 60 for the year.
That’s why seven in six doesn’t sound crazy anymore.
The six games that will decide it
Real Madrid has six matches left before the winter break: four in La Liga, one in the Champions League, one in the Copa del Rey.
1. Athletic Club v Real Madrid – San Mamés, La Liga
San Mamés is never easy. Athletic love making life difficult for the big clubs, and their crowd feeds off every tackle. Mbappé’s not going to waltz through like he did against Olympiacos. One goal and move on.
2. Real Madrid v Celta de Vigo – Bernabéu, La Liga
The friendliest fixture on paper. Celta have been floating in the middle of the table with a negative goal difference, and they’ve historically struggled to contain elite forwards on the road. If Madrid’s midfield tilts the game into Celta’s half, Mbappé could easily score more than once.
3. Real Madrid v Manchester City – Bernabéu, Champions League
The glamour tie. City remain one of Europe’s best-drilled teams, but Mbappé already proved he can hurt them—hat-trick in the home leg of last season’s knockout play-off. Even one goal here would be another landmark performance.
4. Alavés v Real Madrid – Mendizorrotza, La Liga
Alavés sit in the lower half with a modest goal difference and tend to leak chances under pressure. Madrid’s wide players usually find joy in these fixtures, which opens central spaces for Mbappé’s diagonal runs. A brace feels possible if Real stay ruthless.
5. Copa del Rey Round of 32 – opponent TBD
Madrid enters at the Round of 32 and faces lower-division opposition away in a single-leg tie. Last season that meant a 5–0 win at Minera where the forwards feasted. Assuming Alonso starts Mbappé here, this could quietly become the key game in the record chase.
6. Real Madrid v Sevilla – Bernabéu, La Liga
Sevilla’s season has been all over the place—they beat Barcelona 4–1 one week, then lose 3–0 to Atlético. That defensive inconsistency, combined with the Bernabéu crowd, makes this a high-ceiling opportunity to close out the calendar year.
So can he actually get seven?
You can argue it either way. Mbappé has scored 59 goals in 61 matches in 2025 for club and country—nearly a goal per game. Seven in six means stepping above that rate right when the schedule and pressure peak.
But this is a forward who’s already produced a four-goal night in the Champions League, multiple hat-tricks for Madrid, and decisive goals in the biggest fixtures. If he catches fire in just two of these six games—especially the Copa tie and one of the softer league matches—the record is absolutely within reach.
Honestly, though, the bigger picture might matter more than the number itself. Whether Mbappé finishes 2025 with 58, 59, or 62 Real Madrid goals, he’s already entered the same statistical conversation as Ronaldo and Messi—and he’s done it in his first full year in Spain.
Ronaldo’s record is still the gold standard, buoyed by his four Champions League titles in white. These next six games will tell us if Mbappé’s 2025 in white becomes the one that finally knocks it off the top. He’ll still need silverware to back it up.
