Kylian Mbappe is no longer a young talent like the 2018 tournament. Currently, the Real Madrid star is 27 years old, at the peak of his career and has become the number 1 hope of Les Bleus. When he won the 2018 World Cup and played very brilliantly at the 2022 World Cup, Mbappe can be considered a legend of this tournament, on par with the famous players who once brought the gold cup to the land of the six-ty poles in the past.
Nearly 4 years since the hat-trick against Argentina in the final, everything has changed a lot for Kylian Mbappe. He shines more on the pitch but is no longer completely immune to media rumors as when he was a young talent.
Kylian Mbappe was appointed captain of the French national team by Didier Deschamps in March 2023, when this striker was just over 24 years old. At the press conference on that event, Mbappe shared that he would be a captain somewhat different from his predecessor Hugo Lloris. Mbappe revealed that he would be somewhat more noisy than Lloris, but this is a "positive noise" style.
At EURO 2024, the French team played very disappointingly and did not reach the final. Mbappe broke his nose in the opening match and finished the tournament with only 1 goal on penalties. After that, he was involved in a transfer scandal from PSG to Real Madrid. That was the time Deschamps called Mbappe onto the national team to play in the Nations League, but the striker did not agree, leading to scandals in the media afterwards even though Mbappe still wore his shoes to play.
Remember in the first national team gathering after joining Real Madrid, Mbappe did not play in the match against Italy at PSG's home ground. The reason given was injury, but after that gathering, Mbappe played 70 minutes in a match for Real Madrid, causing him countless criticisms for star disease.
After that, Mbappe was also involved in some more scandals, to the point that he had to speak up and say with a rather uncomfortable attitude that it was all just fake news. It was not until the March 2025 gathering that everything calmed down when the French Football Federation had a good enough communication plan so that when Mbappe returned, his image would only be associated with a football star and no longer have anything outside the focus of discussion.
Mbappe's form from then until now in the Les Bleus jersey is very good. The double against Ukraine in November 2025 helped Mbappe equal the scoring record in 6 consecutive matches for the national team of legend Jean Pierre-Papin. In the most recent international friendly match between France and Brazil, Mbappe also had 1 goal, raising the total number of goals for the national team to 56, only 1 goal less than Olivier Giroud's record.
Especially now Mbappe is considered the center forward of the "Roosters", no longer remembered for the image of a winger. His role is not only the captain's armband in hand, it is also the backbone of the attack in a French campaign with countless top stars in this line such as Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Desire Doue,...
As he grew up, Mbappe as captain was also trusted more by his teammates. The French national team's dressing room always recorded a cheerful atmosphere and Mbappe himself was the biggest bridge for the whole team to unite not only on the pitch.
There have been many opinions that Mbappe is an selfish player when he only cares about breaking personal records and does not contribute much to the overall play. Captain Deschamps has completely denied this view. The 57-year-old coach shared that it is natural for a striker to score goals, but Mbappe is not someone who wants to attract all the balls to himself. On the contrary, he also motivates his teammates very well and has often set the stage for the players next to him to shine.
Last season, Mbappe was completely empty-handed in major competitions with Real Madrid. Therefore, in a season when Real is still competing in La Liga and Champions League, not to mention the 2026 World Cup, the 27-year-old striker is trying very hard to take everything. Mbappe once admitted that, despite being the world champion in 2018, pursuing his 2nd World Cup title has always haunted him since then.
Before entering the tournament, Mbappe hopes to join the list of players who have won the World Cup twice, on par with legendary names such as Pele, Garrincha, Giuseppe Meazza and Cafu. With 12 goals already scored, he only needs 5 more goals to surpass Miroslav Klose of Germany, thereby becoming the highest scorer of all time in the biggest playground on the planet.
