Leboeuf Critiques Mbappé’s Focus on Ballon d’Or

Kylian Mbappé is stacking up numbers that belong in a museum. The trophies to match them? Still missing.

The France captain has just come off another absurdly prolific year. Forty-two goals for Real Madrid last season, a second Pichichi in La Liga, and a World Cup that felt like it belonged to him. He is now France’s all‑time leading scorer on 66 goals, and no player in history has scored more at the World Cup, his total at FIFA’s showpiece now up to 22 and still climbing.

On paper, that is the profile of a Ballon d’Or winner. On the pitch, the story is more complicated.

Numbers without crowns

Mbappé’s individual dominance has not translated into the kind of major club silverware that tends to swing Ballon d’Or voting. While his name will again be near the top of the list, the expectation is that others – Harry Kane, Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – will push ahead of him when the final ballots are counted.

That gap between brilliance and ultimate recognition is where the criticism is now landing.

Mbappé has spoken openly about why he believes he deserves to be regarded as the best player on the planet. Those declarations, though, are not landing well with everyone. At 27, the Real Madrid forward is being urged to shift his focus back towards collective glory – and he is being pointed towards an unlikely reference point: his Clásico rival Raphinha.

The Brazilian has 14 goals this season for Barcelona, operating as a No.9 for the first time. The contrast, in some eyes, is stark.

Leboeuf: “Everything Mbappé does feels like it’s for himself”

Ex-France international Frank Leboeuf, speaking to GOAL in association with Mr Gamble, did not question Mbappé’s quality. He questioned his priorities.

"Nobody can say Raphinha is a better number nine than Kylian Mbappe because this is the first time Raphinha is playing as a number nine, whereas Mbappe has been playing as a number nine and consistently scoring goals for almost 10 years," Leboeuf said.

The praise stopped there.

"However, everything Mbappe does on the field feels like it's for himself, whereas with Raphinha, you feel everything he does is for the team. That's the problem.

"When Mbappe says he wants to win the Ballon d'Or, that says it all. That is my concern. You should never talk about the Ballon d'Or like that. Going into the media to express his wish and willingness to win the Ballon d'Or is annoying because it proves his critics right.

"They think he's selfish, and he is showing that. Real Madrid isn't playing well or winning games, yet he's talking about the Ballon d'Or. No, start winning games and scoring goals with your team.

"Express that you want to win La Liga and the Champions League. Stop talking about the Ballon d'Or, it's not important."

Leboeuf knows the obvious accusation that follows.

"People might say I'm jealous because I didn't win the Ballon d'Or, but I'm fine. I'm fond of Kylian Mbappe, but sometimes when he talks to the media, it's not good for his image.”

The message is clear: if Mbappé wants the golden ball, he needs to stop chasing it in public and start dragging his team to the biggest prizes.

The missing piece: a Champions League

If Mbappé is ever to get his hands on an elusive Ballon d’Or, a Champions League triumph will almost certainly have to sit beside it. That is the one glaring hole on his CV.

He has watched from a distance as Paris Saint‑Germain, the club he left behind, have gone back-to-back in Europe. Real Madrid, the institution that usually treats the European Cup like its birthright, have stalled.

Under returning “Special One” Jose Mourinho, the 2026‑27 campaign has started with more questions than answers. Performances have lacked fluency, results have not convinced, and a 16th European crown feels a long way off for the Blancos.

Leboeuf is not ready to write them off, but he is not blind to the problems.

“Real Madrid in the Champions League, it’s too early to say," he said. "We saw Paris Saint-Germain struggle in the beginning of the season in Ligue 1 and the Champions League over the past two years, only to wake up around December and dominate everyone.

“Hopefully Mourinho will find the solution to make the team better."

Mourinho, red cards and a broken VAR

The recent derby summed up the tension around Madrid. Real finished with 10 men, Atletico Madrid with 11. Mourinho raged. Leboeuf understood why.

"At the weekend in the derby, I didn't understand how Atletico Madrid finished the game with 11 players and Real Madrid with 10. I understand why their player got sent off, but there were two red-card-worthy fouls from Atletico Madrid. I agree with Mourinho, you don't even need a post-match press conference, just show the pictures and that says it all.

“VAR officials in England, France, and Spain need to wake up because it's not working."

The officiating is one problem. The dressing room is another.

“We knew when Mourinho came in that it would take time to settle down, and we don't know yet if it's going to work. With the egos in the dressing room and the mentality of the players, even for someone with a strong character like Mourinho, it's going to be very difficult to fix what is going wrong at Real Madrid."

Barcelona’s blueprint, Madrid’s ego problem

While Real wrestle with identity and discipline, Barcelona continue to lean on a philosophy that long predates the current cast.

“Barcelona has a culture of playing together that has been there since Johan Cruyff or even before," Leboeuf said. "For 50 or 60 years at Barcelona, the main principle has been to play together, despite having individual talent.

"[Pep] Guardiola maintained that, [Ronald] Koeman maintained that, and Hansi Flick does that now. Even if they don't focus as much on defending, they score so many goals that it's impossible to cope with them. That's a beautiful, entertaining game."

Mourinho, by contrast, has always thrived on something more ruthless.

“We know Mourinho wants to play a different style. When he came back in 2013, he changed the mentality and made Real Madrid win by being tough and aggressive, which is acceptable in football.

“It takes time to return to that mindset, and I don't know if Mourinho is capable of repeating what he did in 2013. Hopefully for him, Real Madrid, and the fans, he can. But I have my doubts given the current generation of players he has, as it's hard to change that selfish mindset.”

That last phrase hangs over everything: selfish mindset.

It is aimed at a squad, but it circles back to Mbappé. He has the goals, the records, the highlight reels. What he does not yet have is the Champions League, the dominant season with Real that makes the Ballon d’Or feel inevitable rather than aspirational.

Until that changes, the loudest voice in his campaign for “best in the world” might remain his own. And that, as Leboeuf warns, may be exactly what holds him back.