Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé has defended his contribution to the team after facing criticism over his defensive work, arguing that goalscoring remains the primary objective of football.
Mbappé addressed the criticism in an interview with France Football, as reported by ESPN.
“Everyone has their own point of view, but I think the goal of football is to score goals — to score one more than the opposition,” he said.
“A player who scores goals will never be a problem for a team, because I’ve never seen a team win titles by scoring zero goals.”
The France captain acknowledged that criticism comes with being one of the sport’s leading players and said he has learned not to take every negative assessment personally.
He said expectations around his performances have remained high because of what he has consistently delivered throughout his career.
“If I don’t score, people ask why I’m not scoring. Everyone has known what I’m capable of for years,” Mbappé said.
He added that critics often focus more on what a player does not do than on his overall contribution.
Mbappé was Real Madrid’s leading scorer last season, finishing as LaLiga’s top scorer with 25 goals in 31 appearances.
The 27-year-old is also among the nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or and has scored five goals in five matches for Madrid this season.
At international level, Mbappé became France’s all-time leading scorer with 66 goals after reaching the milestone during the 2026 World Cup.
He said criticism does not influence his decisions, distinguishing between assessments intended to help a player improve and what he described as unreasonable criticism.
“I think I have a fair relationship with criticism,” he said. “Because there is constructive criticism and somewhat more absurd criticism.”
“It’s not something that scares me when I have to make a decision. I don’t think I’m going to be criticized… I move forward without hesitation.”
‘A player who scores won’t be a problem’ — Mbappé responds to critics
