Mbappé arrives at the World Cup seeking peace — and France hopes he finds it on the pitch
The Bleus captain arrives at the tournament carrying the weight of a difficult season at Real Madrid, but teammates insist he is 100% motivated.
Forty-two goals in a season, top scorer in the Spanish league — and yet Kylian Mbappé arrives at the World Cup carrying more baggage than trophies. His year at Real Madrid was turbulent: friction with the squad, public barbs with coach Álvaro Arbeloa, and an online petition calling for his departure that surpassed 96 million signatures. In the United States, he wants a fresh start.
Captaining France at his third World Cup, Mbappé inherited the armband after Lloris left the national team. The responsibility is new, and he himself admits that emotional leadership weighs just as heavily as technical ability. "The emotional side of a World Cup — knowing the world stops and watches you — is something you have to deal with," he told Le Parisien.
His teammates are firmly in his corner. "They exaggerate the criticism of Kylian a bit," said Dembélé. Lucas Hernández went further: "He's going to shut up every single one of his critics."
Deschamps has also shielded his number 10 — he even joked that Mbappé is "saving his goals for the United States." The coaching staff went as far as keeping him out of pre-match press duties on the eve of the opening game against Senegal, to spare him the extra strain.
The historical numbers only sharpen the appetite: with 12 World Cup goals, Mbappé needs just one more to become France's all-time leading scorer at the tournament, surpassing Fontaine. And if his club season is any guide, Miroslav Klose's record of 16 goals — the all-time benchmark — does not look out of reach.
The Golmetria model sees France as one of the title favourites, with a 9.3% chance of lifting the trophy — well above Senegal's 1.7% ahead of the opening fixture.
Mbappé joked before the tournament that he is already "hated enough." Now, with the world watching, he has six weeks to rewrite that narrative. The ball is rolling — and the World Cup is waiting.