Kylian Mbappé reached 14 goals in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League season after scoring against Bayern Munich, a total that matched Lionel Messi’s best single-season mark and moved him to seventh place on the competition’s all-time scoring list.
The Paris forward is now three goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 17, set in 2013/14, with the Portuguese star also posting 16 in 2015/16 and 15 in 2017/18. Robert Lewandowski reached 15 in 2019/20, Karim Benzema did the same in 2021/22, and Raphinha and Serhou Guirassy joined the top 10 with 13 goals in 2024/25.
Real Madrid is still alive in the competition, which gives Mbappé at least one more match in the return leg against Bayern and leaves open the possibility of appearances in the semifinals and final. That matters because the race is not just about where he stands now, but how far he can push the standard before the season ends.
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The gap remains real. Ronaldo still owns the benchmark that defines the era, but Mbappé has already put himself into the same scoring neighborhood as Messi and the names behind him. With more matches still available, the rest of the bracket now carries the same weight as the goal tally he has already built.
