France advances at the pace of champion by the hand of Mbappé 1:04
(CNN Spanish) --
Kylian Mbappé's idyll with the French team may be one of the most beautiful and successful in the world of football.
Mbappé made his debut for his country on March 25, 2017 in a qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He did it with Didier Deschamps, being the second youngest player to make his debut (at 18 years old) after Maryan Wisniewski.
Now, in Qatar, with a world title on his resume and being a scorer and protagonist in Qatar, Mbappé shows why it was not a matter of a single tournament.
2018, the Mbappé World Cup
The irruption of Kylian Mbappé, born in Paris on December 20, 1998, was tremendous.
A year after making his debut, he won the most important trophy in world football, the 2018 World Cup in Russia, assuming the role of leader and becoming the youngest player to score in a world final, after Pelé, who did so twice in 1958 in the final against the host Sweden.
Mabppé's rides in Russia are already World Cup history.
His explosiveness, his talent and his unusual leadership at the age of 19 helped the
Blues
add a new World Cup.
Bondy's man left Russia with four goals and the label of "future best player in the world", but... is he the best of all today?
The period between World Cups
After the World Cup in Russia, Kylian Mabppé could not celebrate in the same way with his team.
The 2020 Euro Cup became a necessity for France after they failed in the Euro 2018 final against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
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However, France, led by Mabppé, could not get past the round of 16 in 2020. Their black beast was Switzerland and their executioner was the legendary goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who led his team and saved the decisive penalty against PSG's French striker .
Kylian Mbappé, unstoppable with PSG 0:38
Mabppé tiptoed through that Euro 2020 and the only thing he could contribute to his team were two assists.
At the club level Mabppé has not had better luck in the international arena.
His team, PSG, is trying to win the Champions League in every possible way.
With million-dollar investments (such as the signing of Lionel Messi), backed by Qatar, and with Kylian Mbappé today being one of the best paid players in the world, PSG has not managed to win more than Ligue 1, a league that continues to be below the three big ones in Europe, and that achievement does not make up for the frustration of not winning the Champions League.
The Qatar World Cup and the numbers with the national team
Mbappé arrived at the World Cup in Qatar expecting to return to glory but with the backing that he is still an elite player, a goalscorer, and still in the prime of youth.
And as soon as he started the tournament he ratified it: goal and assist in the first game, the 4-1 victory over Australia;
double in the 2-1 win against Denmark;
brace and assist in the round of 16 victory over Poland.
With 5 goals, Mbappé is the top scorer in the World Cup and the undoubted protagonist.
At 23 years old, Mbappé's numbers accredit him as the promise fulfilled: a player who marks an era and who has built his legend from a young age.
63 matches (16 friendlies, 15 in the Nations League, 12 in World Cup qualifiers, 11 in World Cups, 5 Euro qualifiers and 4 Euro)
33 goals (8 in friendlies, 7 in the Nations League, 6 in World Cup qualifiers, 9 in World Cups and 3 in Euro qualifiers)
23 assists
With 33 goals, Mbappé is ranked 7th in all-time scorers for the France team, led by Thierry Henry with 51 goals.
He moved up three places in the World Cup.
His youth and leadership in the national team allow us to hope that he will end his career very high on that list, perhaps not first place.
(Karim Benzema, 34, is fifth with 37 goals.)
Hand in hand with Mbappé, France not only avoided the curse of the recent world champions but is now emerging as one of the firm candidates for the title.
He already has 9 goals in just two World Cups (the same as Messi in 5) and is ranked 16th in goalscoring in World Cup history.
He will surely finish this World Cup higher and will have more World Cups to expand his scoring account.
Top scorers, assists and recoveries of the Qatar 2022 World Cup: data and statistics
Without a doubt, Mabppé is the standout player of the World Cup and has the potential — and the time — to match Pelé's historic feat of winning three World Cups.
World CupWorld Cup 2022Kylian MbappéWorld Cup
