Mbappé opens his heart after fourth place: 'Maybe we owed you a more beautiful ending'
The World Cup's top scorer, Mbappé published an emotional letter on Instagram: 'Maybe we owed you a more beautiful ending.' Read what France's captain had to say.
The World Cup ended a week ago, but the pain hasn't gone away. Kylian Mbappé took to Instagram to speak directly to the French people — and the message was one of those that stays with you.
France's captain finished the tournament as top scorer, but fourth place weighed heavily. "I accept the Golden Boot with pride, but it would have been so much better with the trophy," wrote the 27-year-old Real Madrid striker, according to Olé. The line that summed everything up came right after: "Maybe we owed you a more beautiful ending."
But Mbappé didn't dwell only on sadness. He went deep into what it means to play as a team. "Without my teammates' work, their runs, their passes, that team spirit that carried us from the first game to the last, I would never have scored so many," said the number 10. "This title belongs as much to the group as it does to me."
Coach Didier Deschamps also had his moment in the letter. Mbappé was measured but direct: "I've already told him what I had to say — he knows." The supporters, who never abandoned the national team at any point, received a tribute worthy of their loyalty.
The pain, he admitted, will take time to fade. "It hurts and it will hurt for a while," he wrote — without overdramatising, but without pretending everything is fine.
And the 2026 World Cup? Golmetria's model gives France just a 1.32% chance of lifting the trophy — well below what the market suggests. Mbappé's side will have a great deal to prove. But first, he needed to close this chapter. And he did it with class.