Kylian Mbappe is an amazing soccer player who helped France win their second World Cup in 2018 when the tournament was in Russia.
Since he was just six years old, people knew he was special. He started playing for Monaco when he was 16 and won the World Cup at 19, just like the famous Brazilian player Pele did as a teenager.
Now, people compare him to soccer legends like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Mbappe’s French teammate, Antoine Griezmann, said that Mbappe is a big star for the future and could be as good as Ronaldo and Messi. After Mbappe scored three goals in a game against Messi’s team, Barcelona, in February 2021, his coach, Mauricio Pochettino, said the only thing Mbappe needs is more time to become the best.
At 22 years old, Mbappe is still young and might play for France in the upcoming Olympics. We hope to see him in Tokyo in 2020!
Mbappe has said many times that he dreams of playing in the Olympics. He told a French TV station, TF1, that he really hopes his dream comes true.
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France will play against Japan, Mexico, and South Africa in the Olympics.
Here are some fun facts about France’s and PSG’s superstar.
Kylian Mbappe Profile
Born: December 20, 1998
Age: 22
Position: Striker
Club: Paris St. Germain (PSG)
Country: France
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“It’s not bad, Messi is watching me”
In the 2018/2019 season, Lionel Messi won the European Golden Shoe with 36 league goals, while Mbappe was close behind with 33.
In an interview with France Football in December 2019, Mbappe revealed that Messi was keeping an eye on him throughout the season.
“I saw that I could maybe get the title of the top goalscorer in Europe. But, facing off against me, was Messi. I would score twice on a weekend, and he would go and score three; I would score three, and he would score four!”
“It was so crazy that I spoke with Ousmane [Dembele] about it. ‘This is crazy! Is he doing this on purpose?’ He responded: ‘Of course he is looking at you!’ I said to myself: ‘Ah, not bad, Messi is watching me.’ It is flattering to see that such a player is not overlooking you.”
2. Cristiano Ronaldo was Kylian Mbappe’s Idol
These days, it’s not just Messi seeing Mbappe as a rival; Ronaldo also recognizes that France’s rising star is the future of soccer:
“Mbappe is the future and the present. He’s a fantastic player, very fast, and he will be the future,” Ronaldo said via Omnisport and Fox Sport Asia.
But just a few years ago, things were very different. Mbappe’s bedroom was covered with posters of the Portuguese national hero, Ronaldo.
There is a famous old photo of a young Kylian posing in a green jacket, surrounded by a shrine of Ronaldo photos.
In 2019, Mbappe recreated the photo, but this time the pictures were of himself holding the World Cup (which neither Ronaldo nor Messi have managed to win), winning Ligue 1 with Neymar, and a cutout of his TIME magazine cover photo.
Times can change quickly when you have the talent and dedication of Kylian Mbappe.
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Mbappe Faster than Usain Bolt?
Is Kylian Mbappe really faster than Usain Bolt?
The simple answer is: No.
When the French flyer scored an amazing goal against Monaco in 2019, he started with the ball in his own half and sprinted through the center of the pitch to finish the move. His speed during this run went viral.
Mbappe reached 38 kph (23.61 mph) during his dash from the halfway line, faster than the 37.58 kph (23.35 mph) that Bolt averaged when he set his 9.58-second 100m world record in 2009.
However, Bolt reached a top speed of 42.7 kph (27.8 mph) during that world-record sprint in Berlin, running 100 meters from a block start. So, sorry Kylian, sorry Cristiano, but no footballer alive is getting close to prime Bolt.
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Only Pele Was a Younger World Cup Winner
At 19 years old, Mbappe became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since 1958, 60 years earlier.
The only other teenage sensation to do this was Pele, who was 17 when he scored in Brazil’s 5-2 World Cup final win over Sweden.
Mbappe scored in France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in 2018, and afterwards, the Brazilian icon tweeted his congratulations.
“Only the second teenager to have scored a goal in a #WorldCupFinal! Welcome to the club, @KMbappe – it’s great to have some company!”
“If Kylian keeps equalling my records like this I may have to dust my boots off again,” joked Pelé.
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Mbappe: A Family of Athletes
Kylian Mbappe could have been a French handball star.
Things might have been different if young Kylian had followed in his mother Fayza Lamar’s footsteps. She played Division 1 handball in France back in the 90s.
Luckily for football fans, he chose to follow his dad into soccer instead. His father, Wilfried, was a footballer who played for AS Bondy, the local team representing the banlieue of Bondy, where Kylian grew up.
In fact, the whole family are athletes. Mbappe’s adopted brother, Jirès Kembo-Ekoko, is a professional footballer who has played with Rennes and is currently in Turkey with Bursaspor.
Then there’s Ethan Mbappé, Kylian’s little brother, who is quietly on the rise at Barcelona’s famed La Masia Academy, where Messi honed his skills.
French coach Jean-Claude Lafargue says the family has another potential star in the making:
“He’s a kid who has a lot of quality. He’s a very elegant midfielder. He’s very comfortable, very intelligent. He’s an emerging player, that’s for sure.”
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Kylian Mbappe Could Have Chosen Algeria or Cameroon
A World Cup winner with France, Kylian Mbappe could have chosen to play for Cameroon or Algeria instead.
His mother’s roots are Algerian, and his father is from Cameroon.
But Mbappe was born and grew up in France. He was selected to play at the prestigious Clairefontaine academy and represented France at underage levels.
He won the U19 UEFA European Championships with France in 2016, and there was only one choice for Kylian.
Two years later, he was lifting the World Cup for Les Bleus.
