'Let's try the unreal' - Kylian Mbappe aims for ambitious Cristiano Ronaldo target after notching 400th career goal in France win

World Cup winner Mbappe reached a quadruple century on the goal front when netting for his country in a 4-0 victory over Ukraine. He bagged a brace in that contest - with his first coming from the penalty spot - and has ensured that Les Bleus will be taking in another shot at global glory next summer.

Mbappe has hit 400 goals through just 537 appearances. He is Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time leading scorer - having found the target on 235 occasions for the Ligue 1 heavyweights - and sits only two efforts adrift of France’s record marksman Olivier Giroud.

It is only a matter of time before he passes Giroud, with a bar of individual brilliance there set to be raised considerably higher. Mbappe also continues to star at club level, with 18 goals being recorded for Real this season through 16 appearances.

Mbappe is only 26 years of age, so has many seasons with club and country ahead of him. With that in mind, he sees no reason why he should not be looking to emulate the achievements of five-time Ballon d’Or winner CR7.

He said: "400 doesn't impress people, if you want to be in that circle that shocks people, you have to score another 400. Cristiano Ronaldo's 1,000 goals? That's unreal. But let's try the unreal, we have to try, we only have one career."

Mbappe is arguably at his peak right now, with it on him to ensure that those standards are maintained when chasing down more major honours with Real and France. He added on silencing any doubters in his homeland: "I had to be the best version of myself so we could go to the World Cup. Last year was difficult for me with the national team, this season I had to show that the national team is important to me.

"On a mission? Everyone knows and can talk about football, but playing in a World Cup… only those who have played in it know that it's special, it's a privilege to represent your country in the eyes of the world."

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Mbappe captured the most prestigious of trophies with France back in 2018, before suffering final heartache against Lionel Messi and Argentina at Qatar 2022 - as he bagged a hat-trick before seeing Les Bleus lose on penalties.

He went on to say of heading back to FIFA’s flagship event, with Ukraine being swept aside with the minimum of fuss: "Pride. You should never take it for granted; today it's becoming normal, but it wasn't always the case in the history of the French national team. We had to be as sensible as possible and keep in mind that the most important thing was the win. On the pitch, we tried to do the job. We picked up the pace in the second half. After that, we played our game, we created chances, and I think people had a good evening."

Mbappe added on his bid to become a two-time World Cup winner - an achievement that would see him join an exclusive club: "Of course we're going there to win, like all 48 other teams. It's a dream to be able to put the third star on the French national team jersey. We need to use this 2022 World Cup final to go to the World Cup with confidence. We'll wait for the draw and focus on the first group matches."

France will be among the favourites to go all the way when the World Cup heads to the United States, Canada and Mexico. They will discover their early opponents at that tournament when the group stage draw takes place on December 5.

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