Kylian Mbappe recently earned a 10/10 rating from L’Equipe for his performance against Kazakhstan in the World Cup qualifiers. The journalists at the French publication are reputed for their stringent evaluation. So, here are the other 12 times players have been given a 10/10 rating.
1. Franck Sauzee – France U21s vs Greece U21s, 1988
France scored three goals against Greece in the finals of the U21 final. Franck Suazee scored two of the three goals, and would be the first of two players to receive a 10/10 rating in that game.
2. Bruno Martini – France U21s vs Greece U21s, 1988
The other player to receive the 10/10 rating from L’Equipe in the game against Greece U21 was Bruno Martini, the goalkeeper for France. He also kept a clean sheet in the game to earn the rating.
3. Oleg Salenko – Russia vs Cameroon, 1994
Salenko scored four goals against Cameroon in the World Cup to help his country win 6-1. The Russian went on to share the Golden Boot at the competition as well.
4. Lars Windfeld – Aarhus vs Nantes, 1997
Windfield was a Danish goalkeeper that couldn’t make it into the national team ahead of Peter Schmeichel. But, he kept a clean sheet against French club Nantes in the UEFA Cup in 1997, and was given a 10/10 rating by L’Equipe as a result.
5. Lionel Messi – Barcelona vs Arsenal, 2010
Not one player would receive a 10/10 rating between 1997 and 2010 before Lionel Messi. The Argentinian scored four goals against Arsenal in the Champions League for his first 10/10 rating from L’Equipe.
6. Lionel Messi – Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen, 2012
Two years after his display against Arsenal, Messi would score five goals against Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and was awarded with top marks once again.
7. Robert Lewandowski – Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid, 2013
The Polish striker was bagging in the goals with Dortmund as well, and he scored four in the first leg of the semifinal against Real Madrid. As a result, he earned the first and only 10/10 rating.
8. Carlos Eduardo – Nice vs Guingamp, 2014
Eduardo scored five goals in the game to earn the 10/10 rating. He scored a first half hat-trick and later added two more to his tally.
9. Neymar – Paris Saint-Germain vs Dijon, 2018
Neymar had six contributions in the 8-0 win against Dijon. The winger scored four times and assisted two goals.
10. Dusan Tadic – Real Madrid vs Ajax, 2019
As part of Ajax’s remarkable 2018/19 run, they overcame the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid. He had a superb performance on the pitch and also delivered a key assist to knock out the Spanish giants.
11. Lucas Moura – Ajax vs Tottenham, 2019
Tottenham needed three goals to make it to the finals of the Champions League, and Lucas Moura’s second half hat-trick single-handedly
12. Serge Gnabry – Tottenham vs Bayern Munich, 2019
Gnabry scored four goals against Tottenham in the Champions League, and was the last player to receive a 10/10 rating from L’Equipe before Kylian Mbappe in 2021.
