EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—Eight years ago, France forward Kylian Mbappé came to the World Cup as the prodigy. He was the kid with lightning in his boots matching records set by Pelé.
Four years ago, Mbappé returned, this time as the heir apparent to Messi and Ronaldo. He terrorized defenses and scored a hat trick in the final.
Now, Mbappé is back for the third World Cup of his career—only this time no one can quite agree who he is. Is he the goal machine who lit up Spanish soccer on his way to certain success in America this summer? Or is he a diva so toxic that his own fans at Real Madrid booed him off the pitch and branded him “a dictator”?
The answer will almost single-handedly determine whether France can live up to its billing as a World Cup favorite or crash out in a drama of brooding resentment worthy of a Palme d’Or. Some 69 million French people are counting on the former. And in Les Bleus’ opener on Tuesday, he delivered by scoring twice in their 3-1 victory over Senegal.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Group I – France v Senegal – New York/New Jersey Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. – June 16, 2026 France’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their third goal with Dayot Upamecano, Jules Kounde and Rayan Cherki REUTERS/Dylan Martinez TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
“When you’re Mbappé, everyone is looking at you with a magnifying glass—on the pitch, off the pitch,” his France teammate Lucas Hernandez said. “It’s not easy being Kylian Mbappé.”
It’s not easy figuring out how to make the most of him either. Never before has a player so talented, at the peak of his powers, been so polarizing.
Starring for Real Madrid this season, the 27-year-old led La Liga by banging in 25 goals—nine more than his teammate Vinicius, Jr. or Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. Yet for the first time in his senior career, Mbappé finished the season without a single major trophy. He had left his old club, Paris Saint-Germain, with the stated goal of winning the Champions League. Only two years later, it still hasn’t happened. Meanwhile, PSG has lifted that trophy twice without him.
Mbappé’s individual numbers haven’t been enough to endear him to Madridistas either. The goals are one thing, but his critics point to the negative impact he seems to have on the rest of the team. At times, he takes up positions that directly diminish Vinicius or playmaker Jude Bellingham. At others, he does so little defending that he is openly jeered inside the Bernabeu Stadium.
In fact, among forwards who made at least 19 appearances this season, he ranked in the bottom 10% for defensive contributions, according to Opta.
“It’s true that I do it less,” he acknowledged in a podcast appearance earlier this year. “But when I do it, it really impacts the team.”
At the heart of the matter is actually a question of soccer tactics. Mbappé made his name as a devastating winger, whose speed and skill on the ball left defenders in the dust. His breakout World Cup match came in a 4-3 torching of Argentina in 2018 that saw him score twice and win a penalty.
Soccer Football – World Cup – Final – France v Croatia – Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia – July 15, 2018 France’s Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe celebrate after winning the World Cup REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY SEARCH “FIFA BEST” FOR ALL PICTURES.
“I’m very happy he’s French,” France manager Didier Deschamps said at the time.
As Mbappé’s stature grew in the game, however, he was less and less content playing on the flank. He viewed himself as a pure No. 9, a center forward in the mold of the Brazilian Ronaldo. He demanded it during his final season at Paris Saint-Germain and practically made it a condition of his move to Madrid.
He is unequivocal about it. The rest of France isn’t so sure.
Some 61% of French people insist that he doesn’t belong in the middle, according to a mid-June poll taken last week by Odoxa. Not that this would ever change his mind. If he has been derided for behaving like the most important person in the room, it’s because most of the time, he was. During the 2022 campaign to keep him at PSG, he took calls from not one, but two French presidents begging him to stay.
Mbappé didn’t do himself many favors either this past month when he requested permission to leave France’s pre-World Cup camp and return to Spain on a personal matter before Les Bleus took off for the U.S. The scrutiny only intensified when photos emerged of him out with his girlfriend in Madrid.
“Kylian is Kylian,” Deschamps said. “The younger generation—and the less young—love him all over the world. That doesn’t mean he’s not normal when he plays and when he’s in the group.”
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Group I – France v Senegal – New York/New Jersey Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. – June 16, 2026 France’s Kylian Mbappe scores their third goal REUTERS/John Sibley
And that group knows just what he’s capable of. Over the next five weeks, Mbappé will have a chance to become the top scorer in the history of the World Cup. He already has 14, putting him just two behind the all-time leader, Germany’s Miroslav Klose.
The problem is that Mbappé’s self-confidence—sometimes interpreted as arrogance—has since been weaponized against him by fans who joke that he becomes the dictator of whichever squad he happens to be on. But they can rest assured: Mbappé has no political aspirations.
“Don’t worry, I’m not talking about becoming Président de la République ,” he said in an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien. “I’m hated enough as it is.”
Write to Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com
