Perfect 10s: Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe & the 16 players to have earned rare 10/10 rating from L’Equipe

The first players to record perfect 10s were French starlets Sauzee and Martini. After a goalless first-leg draw with Greece in the European Under-21 Championship final, Les Bleus welcomed their opponents to Besancon and secured a famous victory.

Sauzee was instrumental, netting a fine brace, while Martini made a string of great saves to keep his side in front.

The pair would go on to have storied careers, with the former racking up over 500 league appearances and scoring 102 goals from defence and midfield. Martini would become a club legend at Auxerre and progress to senior football at international level before becoming France’s goalkeeping coach.

Even the Scrooges at L’Equipe could not deprive Salenko of their highest honour after he put in a five-star performance at USA 94.

Salenko remains the only player to score five in a World Cup match, and his earlier strike against Sweden saw him share the Golden Boot with Hristo Stoichkov – despite the fact that Russia did not progress past the group stages.

Few gave Danish side Aarhus much hope when they were drawn against Nantes in the UEFA Cup first round in 1997/98.

However, in Denmark they held the favourites to a 2-2 draw and they then nicked a 1-0 victory in the second leg. Torben Piechnik got the goal, but the real hero was Windfeld, who produced an outrageous array of saves to keep the French side at bay.

Sadly, Windfeld was never capped by his country. Damn you Peter Schmeichel!

It took a ridiculous 13 years until L’Equipe felt comfortable handing out another 10/10, with a floppy-haired kid from Argentina breaking the drought.

This was one of the many times that Messi was unplayable in a huge game while the peak of his powers, and his team needed it after drawing 2-2 in the first leg at the Emirates.

Hello again old friend. This time Messi scored a record five Champions League goals in a single game, as Barcelona humiliated a Leverkusen side featuring a bemused Bernd Leno in goal.

Leno would be chipped twice by La Pulga during the rout and also parried the ball straight into his path for his fourth goal.

The 2013 Champions League semi-finals signified a shifting of power in European football away from Spain and towards Germany, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund blowing Barcelona and Real Madrid away respectively.

One of the vanguards of this revolution was Lewandowski, who shocked Los Blancos with a four-goal haul at Signal Iduna Park. The remarkable feat foreshadowed the Poland international’s transformation into the record-breaking, relentless goal-getter we know and love today.

Carlos Eduardo netted 10 goals for Nice during the 2014/15 season – and half of them came in this 7-2 mauling of Guingamp.

The pick of the bunch was his first – a beautiful, 30-yard free-kick hit with his side foot that dipped just in time to creep under the crossbar. Lovely stuff.

After a flurry of 10s at the beginning of the 2010s, L’Equipe made us wait four years after Carlos Eduardo’s display before handing out top marks again.

Neymar broke the streak by scoring half of PSG’s goals in their famous 8-0 victory over Dijon. It took just four minutes for Les Parisiens to open the scoring, which set the tone for an unbelievably bleak night for the visitors who, rather ironically, just didn’t cut the mustard.

Trailing 2-1 on aggregate heading into this Champions League last-16 second leg, Ajax remarkably smashed Real Madrid 4-1 at the Bernabeu to reach the quarters, with former Southampton forward Dusan Tadic instrumental in the win.

The Serb scored one and assisted two more to help Erik ten Hag’s side complete an incredible turnaround, as Tadic produced arguably the best performance of his career in the Spanish capital.

If dragging your team back from the brink and into the Champions League final isn’t worthy of a 10/10, then nothing is.

After a quiet first half leading the line, Lucas Moura burst into life after the break – scoring twice in quick succession to put Spurs within a goal of a date with destiny. Then, with seconds left to play in second-half stoppage time, he struck again.

It would end in tears for Spurs in the final, but Lucas’ third goal is one of the most effective reminders of why football is the best sport in the world.

From one of the greatest days in Tottenham’s history to one of the worst…

Nobody likes losing 7-2, but the fact that former Arsenal academy prospect Gnabry netted a hat-trick and grabbed an assist made the embarrassment sting that much more.

The performance also marked the German’s arrival as a global superstar. Not bad for a guy who couldn’t get in Tony Pulis’ West Brom side a few years prior.

Mbappe has dropped a string of world-class displays in his relatively-short career so far, but only one has been worthy of the ultimate praise from L’Equipe.

It wasn’t the most glamorous occasion, with the forward’s perfect performance coming in a World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at Parc de Princes. Still, Mbappe became the first France player to net four times in a single game, so he probably deserved that 10/10.

PSG rarely lose Ligue 1 games, and if they do the opposition goalkeeper usually has to play a blinder.

Lafont did exactly that here, helping Nantes preserve their shock three-goal lead at half time and record a historic three points. PSG racked up 3.93 xG in the contest, yet Lafont only conceded once thanks to some odds-defying heroics between the sticks.

The second 10/10 of 2022 was dished out to Haaland after a thoroughly one-sided Manchester derby.

Haaland registered a third successive home hat-trick against United – becoming the first player to do so in Premier League history – and even laid on an assist for good measure. Don’t be surprised if he’s honoured with a few more 100 per cent gradings before too long.

The Croatia goalkeeper was in heroic form in the World Cup quarter-final as he almost single-handedly thwarted Brazil, making a scarcely-believable 11 saves during the match.

He was inspirational when it came to penalties too, as his stop to keep out Rodrygo’s effort proved decisive, with the Croatians going on to win the shoot-out and advance to the semi-final.

Erling Haaland scored his fifth hat-trick of a phenomenal 2022-23 campaign as he struck five times in Manchester City’s resounding 7-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League last-16.

It marked the second time in his career that Haaland has been awarded a perfect 10 by L’Equipe – the only disappointment was Pep Guardiola’s decision to bring him off when he still had half an hour to complete his double hat-trick!

Atalanta went into the 2024 Europa League final as massive underdogs against Bayer Leverkusen, who had sealed the Bundesliga title without losing a match, and were two games away from completing an invincible season in all competitions. But Ademola Lookman had other ideas.

The Nigeria international netted a stunning hat-trick via three superb finishes as Gian Piero Gasperini’s side trampled over Xabi Alonso’s side in Dublin. Lookman was to the fore as he ran rings around the Leverkusen defence, and deservedly took home the match ball.