Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe have often been compared because of their extraordinary talent, ambition, and desire to dominate at the highest level. However, former Portugal international Ricardo Carvalho, who worked alongside both forwards at different stages of their careers, believes one important difference helps explain how their personalities developed and what drove them towards soccer’s elite.
Speaking about his experiences with the two superstars, Carvalho recalled a conversation with a young Mbappe at Monaco that left a lasting impression on him. The former defender also explained why the similarities between the Frenchman and Ronaldo do not tell the whole story.
Comparisons between the two players remain inevitable because of their shared career path, ambition, goalscoring ability, and status among soccer’s biggest stars. The France captain has frequently been viewed as part of the generation expected to carry the sport forward, while Ronaldo’s career provides a benchmark for sustained individual excellence.
Ricardo Carvalho explains the similarities between Ronaldo and Mbappe
Carvalho, who played alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid and with Portugal, later witnessed Mbappe’s emergence at Monaco. Having seen both players up close, he believes the French forward displayed exceptional qualities from an early age, including the self-belief required to succeed at the highest level. “Football-wise, it was always clear that he was different. He had that arrogance that is normal for someone who wants to be very good,” Carvalho said in an interview with La Vanguardia.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal shakes hands with Kylian Mbappe of France
The former centre-back also revealed that Mbappe looked up to the Portuguese superstar during his formative years. “He loved Cristiano Ronaldo,” Carvalho explained, acknowledging why fans frequently draw comparisons between the two forwards.
Despite those similarities, the former defender believes their approaches to confidence and ambition developed differently. His comments offer a perspective shaped by personal experience rather than comparisons based solely on statistics, trophies or playing styles.
The key difference in their personalities
Carvalho made his distinction clear when discussing how each player approached the self-belief needed to reach the top of the game. “It is normal to see similarities, but it was very different at the beginning. Ronaldo always had this ego. Mbappe molded it,” he explained.
In Carvalho’s assessment, Ronaldo’s ego was already a defining part of his personality, while Mbappe developed and shaped his own confidence with a clear sense of direction. The observation does not suggest that one approach was necessarily better, but rather that the two superstars followed different paths in developing the mentality associated with elite players.
Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.
Ronaldo built his reputation on relentless self-belief, demanding standards and an extraordinary drive to improve throughout his career. Mbappe, meanwhile, demonstrated an ability to understand his ambitions early and deliberately shape his development around the goals he wanted to achieve. Carvalho’s strongest example came from a conversation during their time together at Monaco, when the former defender was considering renewing his contract.
The young French forward had already formed a clear picture of how he wanted his career to progress. “He knew perfectly well where he wanted to go. I remember a conversation I had with him at Monaco, when I wanted to renew my contract. He told me he wanted to play there first and then move to a big club. He already knew what he wanted back then,” he recalled.
